


[HIATUS] Spellbinding Love

by gay4tae



Category: TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst with a Happy Ending, Curses, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fairy Tale Curses, Fantasy, Fluff and Angst, Inspired by Maleficent (2014), M/M, Magic, One-Sided Attraction, Shy Choi Soobin, Sleeping Beauty Elements, Slow Burn, Soft Choi Soobin, Unrequited Love, Whipped Choi Soobin, tyunning if you squint
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-06
Updated: 2020-03-19
Packaged: 2020-08-10 04:53:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 44,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20129665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gay4tae/pseuds/gay4tae
Summary: A curse of eternal sleep threatens to fall upon Soobin in the heat of vengeance. Left with no other choice, Soobin sets out to find his true love, for only a true love’s kiss can break the curse.Kai, who’s cursed to never be capable of loving anything or anyone again, is determined in staying away from everything and everyone. Especially from the King’s son, Soobin, whose father killed his mother.Curses and true love’s kiss. Good versus evil. Only the strongest will prevail in this ignorant world full of wicked hearts and contagious greed. And sometimes, both sides of good and evil loses.





	1. A Cursed Fate or A Fated Curse?

**Author's Note:**

> This is a Maleficent inspired au!!! After watching the Maleficent movie, (the 2014 adaption one) I was immediately enthralled and had the overwhelming urge to write this. Now, this is not the world where Maleficent and Aurora exists. I just made a very similar world for the characters in this au to live in BASED on the movie. I've always had the idea to write this au but watching Maleficent finally gave me the push I needed to write it. Without further ado, please enjoy the story!

“Long ago, two kingdoms lived at war with each other. The Queen and protector of the faerie forest kingdom had her wings unrighteously stolen from her by the mortal King. With a betrayal that darkened her heart, she was firmly set on getting her reveng-”

“Why was our kingdom and the forest kingdom at war with each other?” a small girl interrupted.

“Don’t you pay any attention in history class? The King wanted to cease the land of the faerie forest for its treasure and magic, but the Queen refused to give up her kingdom,” Dongmin told her before continuing with his story. “Out of vengeance, she placed an evil curse on Soobin, the King’s son, who was already eleven years of age. She cursed Soobin so that when his twenty-first birthday arrives first thing at midnight, he’ll fall into an everlasting sleep, never to be woken up again.”

“Nooo!” the little girl expressed her distress loudly.

“However,” Dongmin paused for effect. “She added a twist to the curse so that only a true love’s kiss holds the power to break the spel-”

“Wait, how did the King manage to take her wings away?”

“I’m not supposed to be telling you this, but…” Dongmin lowered his voice down to a whisper. “It’s rumored that before the King took the throne, he was seeing the faerie queen in secret. However, he had to take her wings away from her to prove to the old King that he was capable of being our kingdom’s new King. Now stop interrupting me.” 

The little girl nodded her head eagerly, waiting for him to continue. 

“The Queen had a son too, who was nine at the time. Both the King and Queen’s son were very close friends with each other and had a tight knit bond unlike no other. They were practically inseparable. From watching over the two boys, she already knew her son and Soobin had a clear infatuation with each other at an early age ever since the King’s son snuck into the faerie forest for the very first time. Therefore, she had no choice but to sacrifice her own son too, taking away his ability to love.”

“Why did she do that?”

“Simple. To eliminate every possibility that could ruin the curse she placed on Soobin. She also wanted to make the King think that there was a way to lift the curse off Soobin if he could just find his one true love. But the Queen made it so that it was near impossible to find his true love by keeping her son away from him. The King doesn't know who Soobin's true love could be and she knew it would drive the King _ insane_.”

“The King shouldn’t have been so greedy in the first pla-“ Dongmin‘s hand flew over the little girl’s mouth, preventing her from speaking another word. 

“Hold your tongue, Minjee. You must not let others hear you speak ill of the King or else you’ll get taken away from your family and home. Do you want that?” 

The little girl gave a little shake of her head.

“Do you _perfectly_ understand me?”

The little girl nodded her head. Slowly, Dongmin retracted his hand away from her mouth. Minjee remained silent for the rest of the story.

“For as long as time should last, the Queen’s son would never be able to know the feeling of loving anything or anyone ever again. To properly secure that her son will never break Soobin’s curse, she even went as far as to wipe their memories of each other clean. The King was so enraged with what the faerie queen had done to his son, that he sent his entire army to kill the Queen as well as her son. To ensure the safety and protection of her only son, she sent him, along with her loyal companion, away to live in disguise as peasants inside the mortal kingdom’s walls. Weakened from casting two powerful curses on the King’s son and her own, she was successfully killed by the King. Despite the Queen’s reign being over, her forest was not able to be taken down, for its magic still lives on. The King and his army were pushed back far away from the land of faeries after the death of the Queen and a wall made of thick branches covered with stone-hard thorns surrounded the forest kingdom, preventing anything from entering or leaving the forest. After nine years, no one knows what happened to the faerie queen’s son or where he's at now. No one even knows what he looks like or knows his name. Or so the story goes,” he finished.

“The end? That’s the lamest story you’ve told so far. And you’ve told plenty of lame stories.”

“Must you always be such a party pooper, Kai? I could get thrown to the dungeons or even publicly beheaded for speaking of that forbidden story aloud. You know speculating about the King’s past history with the faerie queen is an extremely taboo topic.”

“Sadly still doesn’t make it entertainment-worthy.”

“Whatever. You just hate all stories. You’ve never really appreciated the art of my storytelling to begin with.”

Kai shrugged his shoulders. “I just like hearing what people say about the faerie queen. For the kingdom’s old enemy, you guys sure know a lot about a dead queen.”

“I’ll make sure to include you into my next story session when I’m talking about the dead faerie queen then. Perhaps I’ll make you to be her long lost son. With how little you have empathy for anything or anyone around you, you'd fit the role perfectly."

Kai grinned widely from his position leaning against a tree, his arms crossed over his chest and eyes glinting with a secret only he knows. “You'd be painfully accurate with your role casting.”

Dongmin hopped off the boulder he was sitting on top of and helped his sister down, too. “Come on. We should get back to the townsquare before anyone notices we’re missing.”

“You guys go on ahead. I’m going to stay behind for a little bit.”

Shaking his head, Dongmin clicked his tongue before warning, “Your uncle’s going to give you hell again when he notice that you’re ditching the royal celebration of the Prince’s return.”

“Why? There’s nothing to celebrate. I bet my life that he’s still stuck with the curse despite consulting with all the witch doctors in the world to remove it. The King is a fool if he thinks the curse can be lifted so easily. A curse is a curse.”

“One day, your words will come back to bite you. And don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Kai chuckled. “Ironic, isn't it? Coming from the person who just told a story worthy of getting their head chopped off personally from the King himself.”

“It’s all a matter of who’ll get caught first,” Dongmin said before turning his back and walking away.

“Bye, Kai,” the little girl waved enthusiastically at Kai before taking her leave alongside her brother, returning back inside the confinement of the kingdom’s walls.

After Dongmin and Minjee were out of sight, Kai started to adventure further away from the kingdom, crossing the river, and sneaking across the vast field of wildflowers above the little green hills that surrounded the kingdom. Today, the Prince’s return was expected and everyone was excitedly awaiting for the ball that the King threw every year after his son came back from adventuring outside the kingdom in hopes of finding a way to revoke the curse.

There has yet to be a successful trip.

The only person who couldn't care less about the Prince’s return, however, was peasant-life living, Kai. It was only natural for him to not want to see the face of the King’s son who had his mother murdered in a cold, brute war that took place nearly a decade ago, only to have neither side of the war win. He knew his mother hated the King and everything that had to do with the King. And now, so does he.

That’s why every beginning of a new year when the Prince was to return back to the kingdom, Kai would be careful to avoid being near anything related to the King and his son. He never once celebrated in the town’s festivals for the Prince’s arrival, nor ever attended a single royal ball, In fact, he’s never even seen the Prince for himself. As long as the Prince falls to the curse of his mother, he would be content that he was able to fulfill his mother's last dying wish: to have the King’s most valued treasure taken away from him forever.

After crossing the fields, Kai finally arrived at the thorn walls that’s nearly been standing for almost a decade. As he stepped closer to the wall that barricaded the forest, the branches of thorns slowly began to unravel itself, creating a hollow walkway allowing Kai to walk through with ease.

He was most certainly not expecting, however, to be beaten there, for someone had already arrived before him. Kai felt his heart stopped beating for a second. No one was supposed to be able to enter the forest, nonetheless a mortal. 

From afar, the boy seemed to be having a conversation with the water trolls and flower faeries. From the looks of it, one could easily tell they were playing a messy game of splashing as much water on each other as they possible could. Kai observed the strange boy for a little longer, taking notes of the way he treated the magical creatures of the forests with playfulness and curiosity, and noted his odd clothing that resembled a uniform of some sort. 

The flower faeries were the first to notice Kai’s presence, hastily retreating back to their homes. The trolls were quick to follow their lead, immediately diving back into the stream, swimming hurriedly away. Left with uncertainty and properly confused with the creatures' abrupt actions, the dark-haired boy turned around to see what had caused his magic friends to scurry away in a hurry. Kai tried to hide behind a large tree, concealing himself in the deep shadows of the forest but his position was already given away.

“Is someone there?”

Kai doesn’t come out from his hiding spot just yet.

“You can come out. I promise I won't hurt you.”

Although the stranger couldn’t see, Kai cocked his eyebrow questioningly. “Why should I trust the words of a mortal boy.”

The mysterious boy walked closer to where Kai was hiding.

“I think if I gave the impression that I was life-threatening, the forest would never allow me to step inside its perimeters.”

“And what do you know about this forest?”

“Well, what everyone else knows. The King banned anyone from going near this forbidden forest after killing the faerie queen.”

“So basically nothing,” Kai spat out with venom.

“Well, I tried to ask the magical creatures here, but no one dares to give me any answers to any of my questions. I think this forest has a secret that it’s trying to protect, though.”

Kai regarded the mysterious boy carefully. “An interesting theory.”

“Won’t you come out now?” the stranger tried again. “Who are you?”

After a moment, Kai spoke, “Are you not afraid of me? Of who I could be?”

The stranger answered confidently, “If I knew my life was endangered, I would be. But the forest protects me from any harm meant my way.”

This immediately perked Kai’s interest even more. He could hardly feel himself breathe. “Show me,” he said.

The strange boy looked around him before spotting a tall tree nearby. He quickly made his way over to it and began climbing up the thick trunk without any hesitation in his movement. He was swift and confident as if he’d done this countless times before. 

Kai watched from below as the fearless boy grabbed onto branch after branch, ascending higher up into the sky. When he finally reached a height that would guarantee a lethal fall if one was to fall off, the boy threw himself off the tree, spreading his arms out as if he believed he could fly like a bird.

The second the boy’s hands let go of the branch, Kai was sure he was going to plummet straight to his death. Much to his surprise, the branches on the tree came to life and with extreme speed, extended downwards, wrapping itself firmly around the boy’s waist. The tree helped to slow down his fall, only letting him go once his feet had touched the ground. 

Kai was rendered speechless. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing before him. He just witnessed a mortal boy climb at least fifty feet up high into the tree and jumped off without a second thought! 

The boy walked slowly back to where Kai was hiding. “See? You can trust me.”

On a split-second decision, Kai finally emerged out from the shadow of the trees around him and walked into the light.

The dark-haired fellow was completely taken off guard by Kai’s natural beauty. He couldn’t believe someone as ethereal as him was standing before him, simply existing and breathing. He had a relatively small face and his skin was pale as snow. He could just spot the little speck of moles on his face and neck, counting them like stars. Despite the small and soft, delicate features that adorned his face, his eyes were the ones that stood out the most amongst everything else. 

His eyes were steady and seemed to show more than he'd be willing to tell. He assumed that he must be one of the forest's faerie, for it was known that beauty often runs in faerie's blood. The stranger suddenly lost all his previous confidence and felt intimidated out of nowhere from his cold presence and unfriendly demeanor.

Upon getting closer to the strange boy, Kai realized that the stranger was a lot taller up close and more handsome than he cared to admit. He also got a chance to get a better look at the clothes he wore and he finally recognized that it was the King’s royal uniform, for the King’s emblem was stitched onto the front of the uniform. The tall, dark-haired boy was of royal’s blood and belonged to the King’s bloodline.

Before Kai could ask him about his royal status, he was beaten to a question.

“You must be one of the faeries who lives here, most certainly?”

Kai didn’t know what to say. He was still wary of the boy who he was sure he’d never seen in his life despite occasionally visiting the forest himself. Kai couldn’t help but to feel distrustful of the new visitor of the forest.

“Although, most faerie have wings, don’t they?" the stranger rambled on. "And you’re wearing clothes from my kingdom. You must live inside the King’s kingdom surely then, right?”

Kai didn’t know whether he should say anything or let the boy believed what he wanted to believe. Either way, the stranger continued nonetheless.

“I’ve heard stories that some of the faeries here were so affected by the faerie queen’s death that they couldn’t bear to live in the faerie kingdom no longer where their Queen used to reign over. So, they moved far away to other kingdoms disguising themselves among normal town folks. You must be one of them. I’m right, aren’t I?”

The taller boy was only met with more silence for an answer. In fact, he took Kai’s silence and mistaken it for fear.

“I won’t tell anybody,” the stranger quickly assured. “Besides, the King would lose his head if he ever found out I was here. Your secret’s safe with me.”

“Who are you to be so close with the King, you would go as far as to lie and disobey him?”

The boy gave Kai a funny look. His expression conveyed astonishment and surprise and Kai wanted to slap the look right off his face for making him feel like he should already know the answer to his own question.

“I’m Choi Soobin, the King’s cursed son.”


	2. His Love Burns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The beginning of breaking the curse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Having lots of fun messing around with ideas for this au and changing up the original story. Please enjoy this chapter! <3 I worked really hard on it even though it still needs a bit of editing.

“You don’t recognize me?”

“I’ve never seen you.”

“Why is that?”

Kai looked away as if he knew something that the human didn’t know. He returned his attention back to the Prince and said, “I heard that the Prince was _ugly_.”

Soobin was thrown off guard by the blatant statement and ridiculous rumor. The look of shock was clear and evident all over his face but he quickly composed himself back together. 

  
“Well, now that you’ve seen the Prince for yourself, what do you have to say about him now?”

“Hm,” Kai circled around the Prince once before walking away. “Ugly as I imagined.”

Before Soobin could muster up a response, he turned around only to see that the faerie had already taken off in the opposite direction. He followed close behind. Upon noticing being followed, Kai spun around on his heels.

“Stop following me.”

Soobin threw him a bewildered look, voice conveying astonishment, “Not only did you insult the Prince, but now you're ordering him around, too?”

Kai chose to ignore him and kept on walking. “Why are you even here? You’re supposed to be preparing to go back to the kingdom. Everyone’s expecting you.”

Soobin caught up with Kai before looking down at the ground in deep thought. He spared a quick glance at the faerie before opening his mouth to speak, “I come here sometimes. Just to escape from life in the castle,” he began. “I missed this place the most and wanted to come here as soon as possible. The forest feels almost nostalgic to me in a way I'm not so sure I understand myself.”

The two young boys were now walking side by side in a casual stroll around the forest. Slowly, magical creatures began to come out from their hiding spots, curious and shocked to see that the faerie queen’s son was conversing with the mortal and cursed prince.

“You should get back before anyone becomes alarmed of your disappearance,” Kai said, yet, without a trace of worry in his voice.

“Can I expect to see you at the ball tonight?”

Kai scoffed at the Prince’s unabashed, indirect invitation. “Why in the world would I want to go to a ball?”

“Because it’ll be _ fun_. There’ll be food, music and people dancing dressed in their finest clothes,” he tried to be more convincing. “It’ll be one of the grandest balls ever thrown in the castle or so I’ve been told,” the Prince looked over at the faerie, practically bubbling with excitement. “Will you be there?”

Soobin quickly came to realize that it was hard to pinpoint the faerie’s feelings, for his face beard no emotions whatsoever. 

“I can’t say I’m definitely not enticed, but…” Kai leaved a hint of tease lingering in his words. “I can’t.”

“You can’t or you _ won’t_?”

Kai pretended to think for a moment. “I won’t,” he finally said.

“You won't,” the Prince repeated. “Because you’re afraid?”

Kai wanted to laugh in the Prince’s face for even suggesting something so ludicrous.

“Don’t be stupid. How could I be afraid of a silly ball?”

“Well, of course you’d say just that. Obviously, you can’t afford to hurt your pride more than it’s already been damaged now, can you?”

Kai’s hand almost came up to give the Prince a proper slap on the face. “You foolish prince, I am _ not _ afraid of a ball.”

Soobin gave a lazy shrug of his shoulders, challenging him with his eyes. “Guess there’s only one way to find out, I suppose.”

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

“You just don’t ever listen to a word I say, do you? It’s like you enjoy seeing me be in anguish all the time.”

“Whatever are you talking about, dear uncle?”

By the time Kai had left the forest, the celebration for the Prince’s arrival was long over. He arrived just in time, however, to get an earful from his uncle who wasn’t really his uncle, though. When Kai’s mother had sent him away, she wanted her most trusted and loyal companion to watch over her son in case anything happened to her. Thus, Park Jimin, a pixie faerie, was granted the role of watching over Kai for nearly ten years ever since the Queen’s death.

A pixie faerie was rare in the faerie forest, for they were tiny in size and one of the easier faeries to get themselves caught in trouble. Over time, their population had slowly started to decline until there were only a few, if any, still left. When pixie form Jimin was flying around just outside the forest, exploring outside his home, he was captured by humans and had his future fated cruelly ahead of him. However, his fate changed when the faerie queen saved him from a life of abuse and torture. Jimin’s repayment for the Queen’s kindness was his lifetime of service.

“Don’t go playing your little tricks and games with me now, young man. You are a complete impudent child and you know it.”

“Oh, come on. What’s life without a little fun?"

“There is no life at all if you lose it. What will you do when the guards catch you one day near the forest? Kill them? They’ll find out that the Queen’s son never died and they’ll find you. When they get their hands on you-”

For what felt like the thousandth time of hearing the same scowling, Kai tuned out Jimin’s voice, opting to take a look inside his wardrobe for a suitable attire to wear for his upcoming evening plans. It was the same exact lecture he would hear every so often, he could practically repeat every detail, word for word in his sleep.

“-and you’re far more capable of taking care of yourself, but you can’t always depend on your powers to help you get out of tough situations-”

“Uncle. I’d hate to interrupt you, but I wouldn’t suppose you'd help me pick out something to wear tonight to the ball now, would you?”

Jimin didn’t try to hide his surprise in his tone as he said, “You? Attending the ball?”

“If I hadn’t made that clear enough already, yes. I am going to the ball.”

Jimin placed his hands on his hips, suspicious of the new turn of events. “All these years of avoiding the castle and now you’ve decided to finally go. What’s with the change of heart?”

Kai couldn’t tell his uncle the real reason why he’s forced to go. For one, Jimin would laugh at his face that he was basically being provoked into going. And two, it was absolutely certain that he couldn’t let his uncle know that he’s met the Prince. If Jimin were to found out, he would immediately disapprove of his doings and proceed to tell him that it’s a terrible idea and that it could interrupt his mother’s plan they've been trying all their life to carry out.

And Kai knew it wasn’t a good idea either. He was supposed to stay as far away from the Prince as possible. It’s what his mother would’ve wanted. However, that all changed when he’d finally met the Prince for the first time. He couldn’t help but to feel intrigued, immediately drawn in by an invisible magnetic force. He also knew he should probably tell Jimin about the oddness and peculiarities of his discovery of finding the Prince in the forest, but Kai decided ultimately that it was better to keep that to himself for now. 

“It’s only a matter of time before the curse will take place soon,” he looked over his shoulder at the pixie faerie, lips drawn up into a slow grin. “Why not enjoy ourselves a little while we wait?”

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

Due to his extreme stubbornness, Kai has ended up just outside of the walls of the castle. Of course, he had to prove the Prince wrong for his absurd accusations. 

Jimin craned his neck further back, trying to look over the giant stone wall to get a better view of the castle. “So this is what the castle looks like up close.”

Kai took a second looking him up and down. “Don’t you think you’re a bit underdress for the occasion, uncle?”

“I won’t be participating in tonight’s event. However, I’ll still be close by observing. I have to scope out the area in case anything bad happens and we need an emergency exit to escape.”

“Are you proposing I use my powers?”

Jimin sighed heavily, physical pain written on his face, “Unfortunately so. But I’d prefer if you would transform me into something small and easy to get around. Like a bird, but not very noticeable to the eyes.”

After a moment of thinking, an idea popped into Kai’s head and his eyes lit up with excitement, “I have just the thing.”

Without wasting another second, Kai extended one arm out slightly towards Jimin. He then stretched his hand out and pushes it in a downwards motion. A bright, emerald green mist began to form from the top of Jimin’s head and descended itself downwards to his feet. After the mist had completely cloaked his whole body, Kai raised his hand higher until the mist started decreasing in size and Jimin’s body was nowhere to be seen. When he had the image perfected in his mind, Kai clenched his hand into a tight fist, causing the green mist to be further compacted. He then unclenched his fist and the small mist had dispersed and a little, black raven was replaced in the air. Jimin immediately flapped his new feathered wings and circled around Kai twice before landing on his shoulder.

“There you go. I would’ve turned you into a crow, but I find ravens to be a lot more of elegance. Your wings and legs are much stronger for flying, too.”

The black bird croaked in his ears and Kai gave a roll of his eyes. “Oh, come on. You do not sound ugly. Your feathers, however, are quite ravishing, if I do say so myself.”

Jimin only gave out a raspy croak before lifting himself off of Kai and straight up into the air, soaring high above the castle.

Without further ado, Kai began to make his way inside. 

When he entered the castle, no one was around except for a few guards patrolling around the entrance. That was to be expected, considering Kai had decided to be one of the last guests to arrive. He was directed up a huge set of stairs that led up to an even bigger and wider set of double doors. A royal guard from one side of the door went to pull the door open and Kai took a huge breath before stepping inside the grand ballroom.

Immediately, loud orchestra music and the sound of people chattering among each other filled his ears quickly. He looked around and spotted Jimin perched on one of the windowsills. After another minute of roaming his eyes around, he finally spotted the King sat on the throne, further back of the ballroom. His eyes bored into the King, the very man who killed his mother in cold blood. He could start to feel the suppressed anger and resentment rise up to the surface. His blood was boiling with pure hatred and his hands clenched tightly together by his sides. He gritted his teeth, trying his best not to combust in a green, fiery explosion.

However, seeing the man for the first time had triggered something deep within him and his powers began to leak. The chandeliers that hung high from above now started to rock ever so slightly, but still noticeable to catch a small crowd of people’s attention. The wind grew stronger inside and more of the guests started to grow worried. 

Finally, Kai managed to draw everyone’s attention on him when they all felt one particular strong gust of wind blow towards his direction. Kai immediately froze in his place and quickly realized his mistake. He panicked for two seconds before composing himself together again. Acting as natural as natural gets, he turned his head to look at a nearby guard.

“Maybe have the windows closed next time? The weather doesn’t look so good outside. Wouldn’t want anybody getting hurt,” he finished off with a wink.

And true enough, the weather conditions outside were terrible. Fortunately, that left fewer people with confusion at the sudden wind that blew in from nowhere. Kai noted to himself how lucky he was. Jimin was for sure going to give him another earful once they were far away from the castle and back inside their little, small shack at the edge of the kingdom.

At last, he began to descend down the grand stairs that were decorated with a red carpet rolled over it. Many people still kept their eyes locked on the boy, though. His prettiness and mysterious aura that emitted from him was enough to attract a lot of wandering eyes. You could say some were even entranced by his unusual beauty. 

For tonight’s special occasion, Kai had on an all black suit. Instead of wearing the kingdom’s standard style of suit for men, Kai wore a black suit jacket that was detailed with a subtle velvet, green floral pattern over it. The next layer inside was a simple black vest over a black, silk button-up shirt. To finish off the look, an oval emerald brooch was attached to the middle of the collar of his shirt, giving the look a dash of green color that was the highlight of everything.

And because no one in the kingdom produced these kinds of clothes, Kai might’ve had to give his wardrobe a few peeks and tweaks. 

When he finally made it to the bottom of the stairs, he realized he hadn’t thought this far once he was actually inside the castle. He did know the first thing he needed to do was to find the Prince. Cutting his time short, the Prince was already waiting by the foot of the stairs when Kai noticed him walking towards him. If everyone's eyes weren't already on him, they certainly were now.

Never could he have imagined being face to face with the Prince inside of his enemy’s castle.

“How nice of you to grace the castle with your ever so warming presence,” the Prince greeted the faerie. He smiled widely, showcasing his dimples that Kai hadn’t noticed before. “That was quite an entrance.” 

“It is my first time being inside the castle. It's only fair I make my spectacular, grand debut.”

The Prince had on a full white suit that was embroidered with gold on the edge. A royal blue sash made of silk draped across his shoulder and a silver crown adorned the top of his head with grace and refreshing elegance.

Soobin clasped his hands behind his back and looked around them. “So, what do you think?”

“I’d much prefer it if there were less eyes looking this way.”

The Prince only chuckled at the boy. “You can’t blame them. You _are_ breathtaking.”

“And you look exactly the same,” Kai said with a fake smile.

“I thought you’d say something like that,” the Prince's smile only widened, shaping his eyes into crescent moons. "Come. I want to show you around."

The Prince reached out to take Kai's hand in his, but Kai immediately drew his hand back from the touch. He held his hand to his chest, soothing the spot where Soobin had touched him.

Concern was written all over Soobin's face. "What's wrong?"

Kai looked down at the Prince's hand and noticed he was wearing a silver ring on his first finger.

"Your ring. It's iron. Faeries can't touch iron, it'll burn them," he explained quietly.

Without hesitation, the Prince immediately worked to remove the ring off from his finger and placed it into the pocket of his pants.

Kai just stared at the Prince, not really knowing how to feel. It was an odd feeling for him, really. It was as if there was something inside of him that should be there, but it was missing. Kai decided to ignore the troubling feeling he had, not really having the energy to think long and hard about it.

Soobin tried again and finally, Kai's hand was held in the Prince's larger hand. Before Kai could reject his touch, he was already being pulled through the crowd and out of the room.

He knew he should put a stop to this and walk away. He knew he shouldn't even be here to begin with. He knew being with the Prince is wrong. 

Yet, to him it felt more right than anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One thing I wanted to mention was one of the main reason why I decided to do a Maleficent inspired au for sookai. That reason being that Maleficent main colors are pretty much black and green as many of us already know. And if my memory is correct, I do believe reading somewhere that Kai's favorite colors are black and green. Therefore, I practically had to make this au.
> 
> Anygayss, thank you for reading! I really appreciate your support for this au <333 Next update will be up pretty soon I believe.


	3. Secret's Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm soooo happy this chapter is finally out, woohoooo!!! At the time this comes out, tmr will be Kai's bday and I'm so excited! So, please, if you're reading this before then, wish him lots of love and congratulation for his aging up on twt or weverse ۹(˒௰˓)۶ Without further ado, let's goooooooo!!

Kai thought the Prince was foolish for showing a stranger around the castle, making it much easier for him to know how to get around the place. He remained silent, though, letting Soobin drag him throughout the room and into the Great Hall that led straight to the back of the castle. 

When they finally arrived at their destination, Kai realized he had taken him to a small garden that was hidden away from most of the view of the castle.

“There’s no guards around,” Kai pointed out. “Don’t you feel unsafe being alone with me?”

The Prince raised one eyebrow up in questioning. “Why? Do you _want_ to hurt me?”

“Do I have a reason to?” Kai retorted hotly.

The Prince and the faerie shared a moment of silence after that. They continued walking along a path that eventually led them to a small pond at the back of the garden. Kai claimed a seat on one of the stone benches and Soobin followed after.

After a silent moment of them admiring the scenery before them, Soobin took this opportunity to relieve his curiosity. ”What happened to your wings?”

“Gone.”

“Can you still fly?”

“Do you enjoy asking me so many questions?”

“I’ve only asked you two questions.”

“Two too many,” Kai simply said.

“Okay, fine. You ask me something.”

Kai pondered for a minute, trying to pick his question carefully.

“Does it not upset you?”

Soobin threw him a confused look. “What does?”

“Your curse.”

The Prince looked out into the distance, admiring how the moonlight reflected off the surface of the pond before answering, “At first, yes. I was beyond upset and utterly devastated. I thought it was unfair,” he replied. He looked back at Kai and said, “But father told me that even though there are evil things in this world, I should not fear because good always wins in the end.”

Kai broke out into a laugh, voice booming out loud and clear, interrupting the quietness of their surroundings. “So that’s the kind of crap he’s been feeding into your head.”

Soobin had his eyebrows knit together as he stared at the faerie even more lost. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Tell me something,” Kai said once he'd caught his breath. “What exactly do you know about the history of the war between your kingdom and mine?”

Soobin hesitated before answering, “Father told me that the Queen did not want to share her land. That she refused to help our people. Thus, she placed a cruel curse on me as a statement that she would never be associated with our kingdom.”

Kai looked like he was about to burst into another hysterical fit of laughter.

“The Queen did not want to share her land? The Queen did not want her land to be _taken_ and destroyed by humans. Your people.” he corrected.

Soobin was quick to defend, “Father would never allow that.”

Kai turned away from the Prince having had given up on him. “Then you do not know your father as well as you think you do.” Kai looked like he was just about done talking, but Soobin refused to let it end like that.

“The forest has the resources this kingdom needs to thrive. My father only wanted to help our people. He only wanted the best for this kingdom.”

Kai looked back at Soobin sharply as he berated him, “If your father cared so much about his people, why would he spend so much money on a ball? Have you ever thought about how many people starve in your kingdom? Do you have any idea how much money is wasted on throwing a ball when instead it could be used to feed the poor?” He berated with fervor. “But you wouldn’t know what it’s like to go days without food, do you? Nonetheless, be _ hungry_.”

Soobin was stunned into silence. He didn’t know what to say. The Prince was struggling trying to say something. Anything.

“I didn’t know that,” was all he could come up with.

Kai only stared back at the Prince with an even look, face devoid of any emotion. “You did know, you just didn’t want to acknowledge it and accept the truth because you didn’t want to believe your father isn’t as good a person as he makes himself out to be.” When it looked like the Prince wasn’t going to say anything, Kai continued, “Your father did terrible things you could never begin to imagine. And what he did to the Queen is unforgivable.”

With a blank face, Soobin looked away distractedly. Kai shook his head thinking to himself it was a mistake to ever come in the first place. He got up.

“I think it’d be best I be on my way now.”

That immediately brought Soobin's attention back and he quickly moved to get up. “I’ll walk you out.”

“That won’t be necessary. But I thank you for your time, anyways,” Kai said monotonously.

“I don’t even know your name,” Soobin retorted.

“You won’t need to. We won’t ever see each other again.”

“But—”

Before Soobin could retaliate, Kai already had his hand raised, casting a soft glow of green and with a flick of his wrist, he uttered out one word, “Sleep,” and the Prince was out like a light.

Kai stared down at the young prince before he walked away without ever turning back.

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

“So," Jimin started. "How was your night? Did you enjoy yourself?” he asked as soon as they were far away from the castle and was back to his human form.

“As much as a fish enjoying itself in a desert,” was Kai's reply.

“Well, what did you expect?"

Kai didn’t respond back, choosing to instead count the pebbles on the dirt path they were walking along on.

Jimin sighed softly at Kai’s unresponsiveness and hooks his arm with his. “It’s fine. One day, we’ll return back to the forest,” he said to him gently. “When you’re ready.”

_ To be king _Kai finished silently for him in his head.

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

It was hours after the ball was over that the sleeping prince was finally found.

“Hyung. Soobin hyung,” a voice said on the verge of panic. “Hyung!”

The Prince woke up startled and when he finally realized he was laying on the ground, he quickly sprung up to his feet, looking around. “Beomgyu? What happened?” he asked.

“You tell me. Your father had the whole castle looking for you. Just as I was thinking the King was going to have my head for letting you out of my sight, I found you sound asleep right here.”

“Did you see a boy?”

Beomgyu tilted his head in confusion. “A boy?” After a moment of racking his brain, he finally recalled seeing someone who was with the Prince. “Do you mean the boy dressed in black? He left a long time ago.”

“Beomgyu, where is my father? I need to speak with him now,” Soobin didn’t bother keeping the desperation out of his voice. “It’s urgent.”

“I’m Captain of the Royal Guard, Your Highness. Not your babysitter.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t tell you what happened. I’ll explain later, though. Beomgyu, please.”

“Fine," he finally caved in. "But yes, you should speak with your father. Last time I saw him, he was very angry that you ran off and ditched the ball. He should be in his private study room if my memory serves me correct.”

Soobin was already off in the direction where he needed to be. “Thank you, Beomgyu. I owe you one!” He yelled across the way.

“Just make my job a little bit easier for me, yeah?” Beomgyu shouted back as he watched the Prince got smaller and smaller into the distance.

When Soobin arrived at the doors to his father’s private study room, he tried to catch his breath, slowing his fast-racing heart down before going in. He knocked twice, letting his presence be known before entering. When he walked in, he saw that the King was sat on his favorite armchair, his back facing him as he stared quietly at the fire that was burning in the little makeshift fireplace.

Soobin called out quietly, “Father. It’s me.”

The King did not say anything or move to indicate that he was aware of the Prince’s presence. Soobin proceeded to approach his father with caution. He stood next to the King, patiently waiting for him to acknowledge him.

“So, I see that you’ve come back,” the King said without looking at him. “Would you like to tell me where you’ve been all night, my son?”

“About that, father,” Soobin said tentatively. “I was with a boy.”

The King’s expression turned dull. “A boy,” he repeated as if the words tasted bitter in his mouth.

“Yes,” Soobin clarified. “And I wanted to talk to you about something rather really important.”

“Go on, then.”

“Father,” Soobin began. “You told me that the faerie kingdom is filled with so much gold and jewels and riches, but the Queen refused to share her land’s treasures. You told me that she was a greedy ruler and that she casted a curse on me because her heart is filled with so much evil," he paused shortly in the middle before continuing on with shaky breaths. "But that’s not the full story, is it? Father.”

“Where did you hear this from?”

Soobin ignored his question. “We have so much gold and money, but where did it all come from? Did you try to steal something precious from the faerie queen, too?”

The King remained still and silent, so the Prince continued.

“You always tell me that the people come first. But what have you actually done to help them? The people who live outside these castle’s walls—do you even know how they live like? Do you know if they’re being fed properly if at all?” the Prince couldn’t help but to raise his voice in frustration at his father’s lack of response. “Are you sure we should be putting all this money into throwing me a ball? Nothing beneficial comes out of it. For your enjoyment? Sure. But it doesn’t benefit the people in the long run.”

“You know what the exact purpose of having a ball is.”

“So that you can keep pushing women and men to seduce me?”

“So that we can find your true love and break the curse!” the King finally erupted.

“It’s been almost ten years! Nothing has worked, father. You can’t force me with everything that walks and breathes and expect me to fall in love. That’s not how it works.”

“I dedicated my whole life into trying to find a solution to your curse. I spent all my time and used all my effort in trying to save my only son,” Soobin could tell his father was slowly getting ready to explode by the way his clenched fists shook steadily in his laps. “And this is what I get in return for my selfless deeds? This is how I’m repaid back? In ungratefulness and disrespect?” He finally whipped his head around to stare into his son’s eyes. “Tell me. What exactly has this boy been telling you?”

Soobin was quick to answer, “Nothing, father. He’s got nothing to do with this.”

“Oh, really? Then you wouldn’t mind me asking him about what he knows about the forest kingdom?”

“He knows nothing about his kingdo—”

Soobin immediately realized his mistake.

“His?”

“Father—”

“His kingdom," the King drew out each word slowly. "So what you’re telling me is that he belongs to the faerie kingdom. How interesting.”

The King then got up and made his way out of the room. He headed down into the Great Hall and soon entered the throne room with Soobin following close behind on his trail.

“Father, please. It’s not what you think.”

But the King paid no attention to him.

At last, he finally made it to his destination. The King walked up the steps that led to the finely detailed thorne made of gold and he turned around to take a seat. He looked to his left, calling his second-in-command to his side with his fingers.

Once he was next to the King’s side, he bowed in greeting. “Yes, your Majesty?”

“The boy that occupied most of my son’s time tonight. Find him and bring him to me.”

“Alive?”

“Alive would be much preferred but unless you see otherwise,” he paused to look at his son. “Kill him and bring his head to me.”

“Father, no!”

“Silence!” the King finally exploded. “I will not tolerate your lack of gratitude or insubordination to me no more,” he then gestured with his hand to the Captain. “Take him away.”

Beomgyu looked at Soobin guiltily as he grabbed his arm and proceeded to drag him out of the room. 

“Please! Father, please! I beg you,” Soobin cried out in desperation. “Yeonjun, don’t do this. Please,” he said to his father’s second-in-command.

“I’m sorry, Soobin,” was all he said before he left to carry out the King’s orders. 

Soobin pleaded uselessly as he was taken away to his chamber. “Father, please!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One thing I'd like to mention is that I just found out that, "Maleficent 2: Mistress of Evil" is coming out soon and I'm soooo stoked for it!! I watched the newest trailer for it and when queen ingrith asked, "Do I what?" and Maleficent says, "Know better." ughhhjsfvdjhsbjshfbjs My queeeen. Anygays, thank you for reading and I hope you have a lovely rest of your day~ <333


	4. Far Away From Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adventures awaits.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing this chapter proved to be more challenging than expected, but I certainly gave it my best shot. Please don’t mind any small errors. I will try my best to continue editing this, but I really just wanna go to sleep rn. 
> 
> (Shit will start to go down in the future chapters but this chapter is necessary.) Okay, enjoy!!

It took Beomgyu awhile to lead Soobin out of the room, practically dragging the Prince all the way to his chamber. When they finally made it to their destination, Beomgyu shoved Soobin inside before promptly shutting the doors closed. Once he concluded they were in the clear, Beomgyu snapped his head sharply at the Prince.

“What did you do, Soobin?”

Soobin began pacing back and forth, ruffling his hair into a mess. “I made a mistake, Beomgyu. I fucked up real bad this time,” he said, breathes coming out fast. The Captain was starting to grow slightly concerned for his friend, completely clueless with what was going on.

“Hyung, calm down. Just tell me what happened.”

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

Kai woke up with a fresh start, ready to tackle a new day. Going to the ball was perhaps a mistake, but the faerie was already ready to put that behind him. He got up, went to bathe, and dressed up in a clean tunic and beige trousers. After finishing his morning routine, the faerie went into the kitchen to be greeted with the smell of cabbage soup and freshly baked bread. He went to greet his uncle first, before taking a seat at their little wooden table that was nearly on the verge of collapsing on itself.

“Breakfast smells delicious, uncle.”

Jimin threw Kai a look before replying, “It’s been the same menu for years now, Kai.”

Kai gave a lopsided grin in return, “And you haven’t changed one bit.”

Jimin shook his head at him before using a ladle to scoop soup from the pot and into the younger’s wooden bowl. He sets the basket of bread in the center of the table and poured both of them a glass of water. Jimin went to take his usual seat across from the boy and they began digging in. 

Midway through, Jimin looked up at Kai, voice expressing concern, “Are you sure no one will recognize you?”

“Confident," he reassured him. "I had cast a spell on myself so that no one can properly identify who I was last night. It wouldn’t hurt to have a little more faith in me, uncle.”

“Maybe if you would act a little more reliable, I wouldn’t have to worry so much about you.”

Kai scrunched his nose in return and stuff his mouth with more soup. The morning was going nice and smooth as they ate in peace without any unusual disturbances. Kai brought a spoonful of soup to his mouth before pausing, hovering it just above his lips. Upon noticing his strange behavior, Jimin called out to him worriedly, “Kai? Is something the matter?”

Kai stared down at his bowl before looking up to meet eyes with Jimin. “Someone’s coming.”

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

Yeonjun thought it’d be a simple job finding the boy and bringing him back to the castle. But hunting him down was no easy task. He went around with his coachman, searching throughout the town on a small wooden carriage. Together, with a few other guards accompanying him, they went from house to house, shop to shop, and looked behind alleyways. Despite their best efforts, no one knew who the mysterious boy that showed up to the ball was. Not a single person had even seen him before. Yeonjun couldn’t help thinking the particular situation was odd.

However, the soldier was deeply intent on finding the boy, refusing to give up. There was one more place left and it was the little, run-down shack that was isolated away from the rest of town. Yeonjun looked determinedly ahead as he said to himself, _ this has got to be it. _

After galloping on his horse towards the place, he came to a stop, observing the house up close. It was terribly worn down and it just about looked as if a single breeze of the wind could topple it right off the ground. 

Hopping off his horse, Yeonjun ordered his men to wait there while he searched the last house by himself. He treaded the path carefully towards the wooden door that barely hung on its hinges and knocked on the door. The young soldier waited a minute before thinking of just breaking into the house.

Just as he was beginning to think that no one could possibly live in this home that was barely holding itself up, the door swung open and a small, but pretty blond that looked a lot younger than he actually was, appeared in the doorway to greet him.

The blond gave a small smile in greeting. “Why hello, sir. Can I help you with something?” he asked politely.

“I’m here for a boy,” was all the answer he was given.

The blond looked even more confused than he originally was. “A boy?” he bit his tongue before asking, “May I ask why?” 

“The King had sent for me to retrieve the boy who was with the Prince all night at the ball. I do not know more than that.”

Jimin internally sighed in relief. “I see. Well, I haven’t got a boy, I’m afraid you’ve got the wrong address.”

Yeonjun stubbornly stood his ground, refusing to be dismissed so easily. “Then, you wouldn’t mind me checking around to see if he’s been here? Just to be thorough with my search.” 

Jimin pursed his lips into a tight smile before opening the door wider. “By all means, go right on ahead.”

“Very well,” was all he said before heading inside. He stood in front of the doorway, looking around the room before making his way to a tiny area in the corner of the house that was supposedly a kitchen.

Yeonjun looked to his right to see a small dining room (if one could possibly call it that). He walked slowly towards the table, tilting his head to the side. It was bare with nothing except for a little glass vase placed in the middle with a single flower in it. Most people wouldn’t look twice at it, thinking it was nothing out of the ordinary. He counted there were four chairs that surrounded the round, wooden table, and only two chairs were pulled out.

Almost as if two people were eating here not less than two minutes ago.

Yeonjun turned around to face the blond. “I know he’s here.”

Jimin tried to keep his voice leveled evenly. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Yeonjun stared at the blond with an emotionless face, making Jimin swallow deeply. He couldn’t help but to start fidgeting under his intense stare, fighting the overwhelming urge to run away. The soldier then chuckled softly under his breath, shaking his head slightly before looking back at the blond.

“You do know who I am, no?”

“The King’s second-in-command,” Jimin answered automatically. “His Majesty’s most trusted and loyal soldier.”

“Then you know very well of the things I am capable of doing. If you don’t give me the boy, then I will be forced to bring you to the King in his stead and His Majesty isn’t very fond of liars.”

Jimin froze in his spot, his grip tightening on the hem of his shirt. “Sir. I would never lie to the King. I know of no boy you speak of,” he tried to convince.

The young soldier took a step closer to Jimin, drawing his sword. “Tell me where the boy is or I’ll be obliged to force it out of you.”

Jimin puts his hands up to his chest in defense without ever taking his eyes off the sword. “This is a clear misunderstanding. I—“

“Uncle?”

Both men stopped at the sound of a new voice, turning their heads to see a young boy standing by the doorway. 

Jimin’s anxiety spiked through the roof when he saw the young boy. His voice went up two octaves higher when he said to him, “Kai? What are you doing?”

The faerie did not hear Jimin, too busy focusing his eyes on the intruder. He stared hard at the sword that was still out and made the bold decision to look directly at the young soldier who couldn’t be older than him just by a couple years. 

His voice is calm as he said, “Sheathe your sword.”

The soldier cocked his head to side at the boy’s directness. “I do not take orders from peasants.”

“I bear no weapons. It’s two unarmed men against one armed soldier.”

Yeonjun looked at Kai with a cold and steady gaze. From the look of his eyes, Kai could tell that he’s trained to kill and that he does it professionally.

“I won’t have to use it unless you give me a reason to.”

Despite the threat, Kai held his ground firmly, both boys intent on winning their silent staring contest. When the silence had dragged on for long enough, Kai finally spoke, “What does the King want from me?”

“Whatever he wishes from you. I have been granted permission to bring him your head instead, if you refuse to cooperate with me.” 

Kai continued to stare at him silently, trying to think of the best option for him and his uncle. He knew that the soldier doesn’t know anything except for the fact that he’s just an average, peasant boy. But Kai had no idea why the King would want anything to do with him. Unless…

Kai finally made up his mind. “Take me to him.”

Jimin whipped his head at the younger, looking at him like he was crazy. “_Kai._”

The young soldier placed his sword back into its holster and went to open the door. “This way, then.”

Kai only took one step before being stopped by a hand on his shoulder, holding him in place.

“Wait! I’ll go with him.”

“The King did not ask for you.”

Jimin’s face twisted in pain as he tried desperately to persuade the soldier from taking Kai. “He’s just a boy. He did nothing wrong.”

Yeonjun, however, was paying no attention to him, already growing bored of his mission. Kai placed his hand on top of Jimin’s in a small attempt to reassure him. “I’ll be fine, uncle.”

Jimin stared back at Kai, voice filled with frustration. “I won’t know that!”

Growing impatient with the slow pace, Yeonjun walked back to grip Kai by the back of his collar and proceeded to drag the boy out of the house.

Kai tried to twist his head around to look back at his uncle who was standing in the doorway defeatedly. Jimin could do nothing but watch him get taken away, practically wrenched from his grasp. Kai didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye before he was already being pushed and shoved inside of the carriage. Once he was finally inside, Kai took a moment to observe the interior. The seats were its normal royal blue velvety cushion and the walls had an intricate, gold pattern design. He then looked at the windows and noticed they were protected with bars. Looking out of them, he saw that Jimin had never moved an inch away from the spot where he stood, never taking his eyes off of him. 

He went to wrap his hands around the bars but immediately flinched away, gripping his hands tightly to his chest and wincing in pain. He reached for the handle of the doors but they were predictably locked. He cursed silently in his head, glaring at the bars with despise. _ Iron. _

The urge to use his power was overwhelming, but Kai withheld himself, reminding himself to _ breathe_. 

The carriage was already moving when he finally gained composure of himself. He tried to look for Jimin again, but they were already a fair distance away from his little shack. There wasn’t much Kai could do in his current state, but it did give him enough time to plan out carefully and think about what he was going to do once he arrived at the castle. Despite his current situation, Kai did not find himself mad or upset. Deep down, he knew sooner or later that he would eventually have to face the King. And it just happened to be a lot sooner than he would have liked. 

Although it may seem inappropriate to do at a time like this, Kai smiled to himself, wondering how that silly prince managed to slip his tongue up about him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, it amazes me when I think about how if Kai’s fav colors weren’t black and green I would’ve never written this au. Like, I was thinking to myself, “hmm, I don’t know a lot of people whose fav color is green.” And then, “What if I made a maleficent inspired au??”
> 
> lol
> 
> My goal with this au rn is trying to aim at building everyone’s character development and it’s kinda clashing with my original plan to get this au finished as quickly as possible but I don’t want to rush it bc I really do enjoy writing this fic. I just hope that at the end of this I can be happy with the result. That’s all for rn, I hope you enjoyed this chapt and I’ll see you in the next one! <333


	5. Morale and Tenacity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It gets worse before it gets better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the boys won their 3rd roty!!!!! (And this time with all five of them together). Comeback may seem pretty far away but let's do our best to prepare for when they do come back by saving up stars and votes on starpass, saving up $ for preorders/albums, practicing streaming and more! OHHOWCOULDIFORGET WE'RE MOASSSSS. I personally, for one, prefer Moa much more than young one bc it's honestly such a cute name~ Like, it feels good walking around knowing I have such an adorable fandom name called, MOAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Kai didn’t think he’d ever return to the castle, but he should’ve known fate had its own odd, twisted way of proving him otherwise. In the back of his head, he thought about how none of this would’ve happened if only he had killed the Prince. It would’ve been _ so _ easy.

He reminded himself of his mother. Before the faerie queen was caught up in a whirl of fury and revenge from the result of the King’s betrayal, Kai had made many good, fond memories together with her. When he was just a small boy, he was taught many things which included but were not limited to never kill without a reason, never engage in an act of war unless it's called for and protect life from unjustified cruelty or death. Most importantly, he was taught to make his power have _meaning_. Whether for himself or others, it was important he always have a purpose and to hold on to that purpose until his very last, dying breath.

And he knew exactly what that purpose his mother expected from him: succeed her legacy of destroying the King’s will. 

The door to the carriage was swung open before he even realized they had finally arrived back to the castle during his mini reminiscing. He was yanked out with force and he stumbled out trying to stand on his feet. Before the guards could take a step closer to him, Kai heard the jingling sound of shackles and immediately pulled his arms back around him, already knowing what they intended to do.

He looked them in the eyes, keeping his voice even. “I’m not resisting, restraining me is unnecessary,” he explained.

The guard eyed him with open disdain, voice conveying his contempt, “You will comply with us whether you want to or not.”

Kai only continued to argue back, “It’s unreasonable why I should be in shackles,” he stubbornly insisted. A thought then occured to him and he tilted his head slightly in a taunting way. “Unless you’re _threatened_ by me.”

He fell to the ground after his face was met with a harsh slap from the back of the guard’s hand.

The guard crouched down next to the boy, getting close to his face. “If provoking the King is your only plan, then you’re not gon' last two minutes in his presence.”

Kai looked him straight in the eyes, curling the corner of his lips into a smirk. “I’ll last longer than you’re able to last in bed.”

The guard only stared at the boy with a blank look before grabbing the collar of his shirt, forcing him to stand back up. Kai was barely back on his feet when he was sent flying back to the ground from the force of a fist to his face.

He clenched the left side of his face, cheekbone throbbing. Before the guard could continue with his beating, Yeonjun approached them and observe the scene in front of him. 

“What’s going on here?” he interrupted.

The guard haltered in his step, turning his head at him. “Just teaching 'em a lesson, sir.”

The soldier lowered his eyes at him. “That’s not for you to decide,” he said coldly. “Get him up and bring him to the King immediately before I report another incident involving an unfortunate situation with a guard _ accidently _ falling off the edge of a cliff.”

“A-aye, sir.”

Kai tried to engrave the soldier’s face into his head as he was being hauled back up to his feet and practically dragged to the castle by the elbow. It wasn’t that he was trying to remember his face so that the next time he sees him, he’ll kill him. But it intrigued him that with the amount of dominance and authority he had over the King’s guards, the strong soldier did not seem to be under the control and influence of power. 

He could not say the same for the guard, however, and couldn’t promise that the next time he sees him, he wouldn’t hesistate refusing to show mercy on his poor soul.

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

Soobin could do nothing but wait sullenly in his chamber, his stomach filled with anxiety and regret. He could not stay still and was about to march back into the throne room and try to convince his father to not kill his faerie friend when the door slammed open and the Captain barged in with a look of unease. 

“He’s arrived,” he said.

And panic began to settle.

Soobin rushed past Beomgyu, fast-walking through the hall. Beomgyu quickly turned back around and walked alongside the Prince.

“Where are you going?” he asked him.

“I have to speak to father, again,” Soobin answered.

Beomgyu threw him a hard look, slightly irritated by his irrational thinking. “There’s nothing you can do,” he insisted.

Soobin stubbornly shook his head. “There’s always something I can do.”

“That doesn’t mean it’s worth doing.”

The Prince stopped in his tracks and turned to face the Captain, “_He’s _ worth everything.”

Beomgyu couldn’t come to comprehend the Prince’s way of thinking. He threw his arms up in frustration. “You’ve only known him for a day!”

“And I’ve never felt more _ free _ than with anyone else,” a heartbeat of a pause lingered in the static air before Soobin was continuing his way in the direction towards his destination. 

Beomgyu opened his mouth to say something but bit his lip, speechless. He thought that the Prince's mind was clouded with fear and anxiety was affecting his better judgement. But he knew that the Prince was telling the truth when Soobin looked at him with such determined eyes. 

By practically having had grew up with the Prince, he could recognize all the emotions he was feeling and knew his personality better than anyone else. He also came to acknowledge the preassure Soobin felt being Prince and how much responsibity lies on his shoulders, especially when trying to please and satisfy his father’s unreasonable standards. 

Growing under the King’s care, he surprisingly came to become a shy, kind, and soft-spoken Prince. Completely opposite from his father who ruled with ruthlessness, savagery, and tyranny. Soobin was always the submissive type in front of his father, always letting him walk over him. So, when he saw that the Prince was finally going against his father and standing up for himself, he couldn’t help but to feel a sense of pride.

Even if he thought the Prince was being a bit foolish for doing so.

Soobin could feel the change in his character, too. To him, it felt like finally taking a breath of fresh air after always being in the shadow of his father’s dominance. When he faced the doors to the throne room, he was not afraid or intimidated in the least. When he was going to walk in and face his father, he was not going to walk in as the scared, little boy his father knew him to be, but as the Prince that thought like a king.

At his side, Beomgyu exhaled a deep breath not knowing what was going to happen when he opened the door.

“Are you sure about this?” he wanted to clarified.

Soobin’s posture was calm and composed. “Don’t worry,” he said with fortitude. “I have a plan.”

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

“So,” Kai started. “Are you guys gonna drop me back off after we’re done here or am I gonna have to walk back home myself?”

Much to his disappointment, he did not receive a response.

Kai heaved a sigh. “It’s a shame you’ve all gone mute,” he tried again. “I was beginning to think we were becoming friends.”

He was yanked roughly towards the guard who whispered a little too close to his ear. “I highly advise you to be silent if you know what’s best for you,” he warned.

Kai’s ear perked at that and he turned his head slightly, without completely facing the guard. “Or what?” His voice tingled with a hint of playfulness. “You’ll punish me for being naughty?” he said teasingly.

Instead of getting aggravated by his words again, the guard stated calmly, “You’ll wish it was I who was giving the punishment and not the King.”

They arrived at the front of the throne room and Kai threw the guard a wink as the door was pulled open.

“I’m sure you’ll get your moment with me some day,” he said before stepping into the gigantic room with the rest of the guards following close behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Despite having several other unfinished aus I'm kinda thinking of starting two new aus. (At this point, you really can't expect me to have any sliver of control left in me bc that's clearly been thrown out the window a looong time ago.) 
> 
> But if you are interested in the new aus I have planned, one au is basically about Kai having a dog and one day his dog turns into a human. (you can guess who that is). And it's going to be completely fluffy and wholesome.
> 
> The other au is going to take a complete 180 turn bc I'm thinking of writing a real, horror au about the boys staying in a haunted house/mansion kind of story. So I intend on making it scary and bringing out my Stephen king wannabe side. It'll also be inspired from the Netflix series/book called, "the haunting of hill house". (Pretty cool show and book, highly recommend.)
> 
> Don't want to make this any longer than it already is so I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you for reading<333


	6. The First Pact

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> shit's just got more complicated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ughhhhhh its been sooo long. I apologize for the super slow update but school is a real pain in my ass and my classes requires a lot of energy out of me (༎ຶ⌑༎ຶ). Moreover, I have been back to my old habit of procrastinating lately. Last Friday, I had an essay due at midnight and I was supposed to be working on it for the past week but I was trying to catch up on my other classes and work on getting this chapter out and ended up writing the essay 4 hours before it was due, barely making it in on time (lol). (Ｔ▽Ｔ)
> 
> This chapter will be a little more lengthy compare to other chapters to make up for the long wait so please enjoy and yes, there might be some writing errors as I spent the whole night writing this chapter instead of doing my hw and it is now 2am here. ╥﹏╥

The first thing he noticed when he walked into the room was the amount of guards that were positioned near the King and even more guards that were lined up against the walls. All eyes fell on him and Kai was surprised to find the Prince standing besides the King’s side, holding his hand behind his back looking calm and composed.

Although he didn’t want to notice his presence, he had already detected the guilt in the Prince’s eyes and from the penitent expression on his face, he knew he was feeling contrite. As soon as Soobin met eyes with Kai, he noticed the cold, empty expression that always seemed to be permanent on the boy’s face. 

Kai stopped in the middle of the room and held his eyes with the King who sat lazily on his throne with a bored, uninterested look on his face as he observed his visitor.

With Yeonjun by Kai's side, he ushered to the young boy sternly, “Kneel before your King this _ instant_,” he added with a sharpness to his tone.

The room fell silent as everyone waited for the boy’s next move. The silence had gone off long enough for the same guard who punched him to take matters into his own hands. With a tight grip at the back of his neck, he pushed his body towards the ground, practically forcing him onto his knees.

“State your name, boy.”

Kai kept his mouth shut, refusing to answer a word. The King’s face twisted up into a menacing look, indirectly warning him not to waste his time. By the twitch of the King’s eye, Kai could tell His Majesty was slowly growing aggravated with his stubborn behavior and from being blatantly ignored.

To avoid further upsetting the King, Yeonjun took it upon himself answering in the younger boy’s stead. “We found him in a small shack on the outskirt of the Kingdom’s border. He lives with one other person whom he calls, uncle. Said uncle mentioned that his name was, Kai, before we were transporting him to the castle.”

Kai coughed out a small scoff, almost rolling his eyes. _ Transported? More like threatened and kidnapped, _he thought to himself as he recalled the previous event in his head. Yeonjun, however, happened to hear this sound escaped him as he was standing relatively close to the younger boy and he quickly threw him a side-eyed glance, glowering his eyes at him before reluctantly returning his attention back to the King.

“As many of us know, the existence of faeries are banned from this Kingdom and if one should be found should punishment be received in the form of death.” Everyone in the room looked unsurely at one another, not knowing the direction the King was taking this in. Their confusion and curiosity was soon relieved in the next second, “Which is why I’m pleasantly surprised to find one standing before me on this day.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, everyone looked at each other with a mix of surprise and fear. There were quiet murmuring among the guards as they couldn’t help but express their shock verbally. Mild fear crept up on each and every guard simultaneously as the realization hit them at the same time. The guard who was holding Kai down, released his death grip from the back of his neck and stepped back hastily, not wanting to be anywhere near the kingdom’s old, but once powerful enemy.

Picking himself up off the floor, Kai wiped imaginary dirt off his knees before boring his eyes at the King with open contempt and disdain.

“Silence!” the King’s voice boomed intrusively in the large room, echoing slightly off the walls. The silence that followed after was fraught with unasked questions. He waited until the room was quiet before speaking again. “You have heard right. After all these years, a young faerie boy has been living right under our noses this whole time,” he looked down Kai with a glint of curiosity that shone momentarily in his eyes. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

Kai stared back at the King, poised, and with an even expression. He took a second to gather his thoughts before speaking, “You may think sitting on a big throne makes you appear strong and powerful,” Soobin winced at Kai’s unfiltered words. Needless to say, he was practically digging himself into his own grave. “But really, you’re just an ordinary man,” Kai spoke truthfully and words uncensored. “Easily replaceable and inevitably forgettable,” he accentuated each word delicately.

There was a sharp intake of breath from everyone in the room as they couldn’t believe someone had freely insulted the King to his face. No one spoke like that to the King unless they were purposely seeking a death wish. Instead of erupting into a storm of rage like many predicted, the King only smirked, allowing a slight chuckle to escape past his lips.

“It has come to my attention that there has been some clear misunderstandings about me...I would like to change that.” The air grew thick with tension as everyone waited for what was to happen next. The King spared a glance at his son, who fidgeted nervously despite not being under the spotlight that Kai was in, before returning his attention towards the faerie, “After hearing a very interesting suggestion from the Royal Prince that had caught my immediate attention,” the King took a deep breath before continuing, “I would like to propose a _ pact_.”

There were audible gasps heard among the guards as they all looked at each other, trying to confirm for themselves if they had heard the King spoke correctly. The King is not known for making pacts or any other form of peace offerings among other nations. Therefore, it is understandable why many of the guards could not easily wrap their heads around the idea of the King’s sudden decision. It was even more difficult to comprehend, for the King was presenting a pact to a _faerie_, their most hated enemy.

Kai spat out his answer without hesitation, “I decline your offer to a pact.”

The King arched one brow up as he confided his confusion with the young faerie, “I haven’t even stated the terms of the pact.”

“What does it really matter if I get no say in the terms?” the young faerie refuted.

With his chin slightly pointed high in the air, emitting a kind of brash and authoritative aura, the King replied, “Because I’m more than convinced you’ll accept the pact upon hearing it. And if you think about trying to escape, you can say goodbye to everything you once had, including the other person my second-in-command had informed me about. Your dear uncle, wasn’t it?” 

Kai made a valiant effort to hold his anger in check because as much as he hated to admit, he was practically backup in a corner. If he were to pull something, he knew the King would use Jimin as his weakness and control him like a puppet on a string. So, he listened.

The King smiled triumphantly, finally pleased that things were going his way. ”In this pact...” he began slow but clearly. He took a look around the room before continuing, “You are to live within the castle.”

The room erupted in a mix of anger, fear, but mostly shock as people had difficulty grappling with the new turn of events. A faerie was going to be living under the same roof as the King. 

The King spoke again before the room could get any more chaotic, “During your time here, you will help in breaking the Prince’s curse.” Kai furrowed his brows at that. As if sensing the confusion from the boy, he elaborated, “After much extensive research, my team of scholars have found an alternative way to break the curse without a true love’s kiss.” The King watched carefully as Kai’s eyes widened at that. _ Impossible_, the young boy thought. Nothing in the world is more powerful than the spell his mother had casted. 

Taking much pleasure with the amount of control he had over the faerie, the King smiled wickedly as he finished explaining the terms of the pact, “You will be assigned the best scholar in this kingdom to work with and he will tell you everything you need to know. He will provide you with all the resources and books you need and you will work together. Shall you fail to complete your task and you will be punished in death. Pull anything funny, and I’ll make you regret it to the utmost of my ability.”

Kai glared openly at the King with a cross between disdain and fury. “What’s in it for me?”

The King gave a slight tilt of his head as he pondered for a second before giving his reply, “If you succeed, I promise to leave the faerie kingdom alone and maybe someday, humans and faeries can coexist together if the opportunity should present itself.”

Kai chew the bottom of his lips in frustration as his fists twisted into the material of his tunic by his sides.

“As long as you stay in line, there should be no need for any one to die,” the King finished with a victory smile.

There was something more to this pact than the King was letting on and Kai couldn’t figure out yet what it was the King was _ really _ after. Nothing should be able to break the curse. No other magic can compete with the faerie queen. 

“I hereby declare this pact to go into effect immediately!”

Kai felt lightheaded and he struggled to control his heavy breathing. When he was taken out of his home and brought to the King, he never would’ve imagined this outcome. Never could he have predicted in the entirety of his life that he would come to live inside the castle, sharing the same roof with his enemy. He spared a quick glance at the Prince who he couldn’t quite come to read at the moment.

The only reason the King even considered the pact was only because Soobin had introduced the idea and helped arrange the terms in the first place. 

“Yeonjun,” the King’s attention then turned towards the soldier. “Your work here is done. Your payment will be delivered to you as scheduled. You may be dismissed now.” The soldier bowed shortly in gratitude and turned his back to leave the room but not before sparing a glance at the faerie. The two boys held each other’s gaze momentarily as the soldier regarded the young boy curiously before walking away.

Motioning towards the nearest guard who stood closest to Kai, the King ordered him, “Take the boy to his own personal chamber in the far west wing. There is to be at least eight guards outside his doors at all times. He is not to be unsupervised under no circumstances unless he is in his own room.”

“Yes, your Majesty,” the guards bowed his body in a ninty degree form and hesistated before grabbing onto the boy’s elbow to transport him out of the room. Kai only snatched his arm back and turned swiftly on his heels to walk out the doors himself, not even bothering to bow to the King. An angry aura surrounded him as a handful of guards was hot on his trail. Despite basically being kept prisoner inside the castle, it was an entertaining scene to watch the guards follow after the young boy like he was in control of them and it wasn’t the other way around.

After the faerie was out of sight, Soobin lets out the breath he didn’t know he had been holding this whole time as he felt a wave of relief wash over him. He turned his head towards his father who was already staring at him and the Prince almost jumped, suddenly avoiding eye contact with the King.

“Do you really think he can bring me the scepter?”

Soobin forced himself to look at his father, straightening his shoulders as a reflex before lying smoothly. “He’s the only person we know who can get inside the forest. He’s the only chance we have at finding that scepter.”

“Just know that if this plan fails,” the King looked away from his son before staring straight ahead, bored. “You being my son won’t exempt you from facing your consequences. I’ll kill the boy slowly and make you watch every second of it.”

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

Kai fumed silently all the way to his chamber as the guards led the way ahead. Walking all the way to the west wing of the castle was quite the walk, especially when the guard picked out his chamber to be all the way at the very far back of the west wing. More chambers are located on the east wing, where people of nobility lives, including the Royal Prince and the King, and the chambers were much more luxiourious than the ones in the west wing, which mainly belonged to the servants.

The whole time as they were walking, the guards remained on high alert and carefully kept their eyes on the faerie boy, their hands always near their holster, ready to draw out their sword at any given moment. Kai, oblivious to his surroundings, was too busy boiling in anger to noticed how tense the guards around him were.

When they finally arrived at their destination, the guard ahead was quick to throw open the door, waiting impatiently for the boy to follow in. Kai barely had time to turn around as the guard quickly ordered, “You are to remain in your chamber and wait for the scholar to arrive,” and promptly shutting the door, locking it. 

Kai stared blankly at the door before turning back around to observe his new room where he’d be staying for god-knows-how-long. 

The room wasn’t so small, but it certainly wasn’t spacious either. After looking over the room once more, he could say with confidence that his new bedroom was probably bigger than his entire house. A small bed was placed to the right side of the room, just small enough for one person to freely move about in the limited amount of space the bed provided. Even so, it was a hundred times an improvement from his old bed which was torn from rats biting through and terribly stained.

He proceeded cautiously towards the bed and laid down on it slowly, taking time to adjust to the new comfort of the mattress. The sheets were clean and white, made of finely woven cotton and a single pillow was placed neatly near the headboard of the bed.

After he was done checking the bed for himself, he got up to investigate his room to become more familiarized with his new chamber. Just across from his bed was a small bathroom with a wooden tub for bathing and a garderobe connected on the other side of the bathroom. Kai walked back to his bedroom and noticed that besides for the bed, the room was decorated with just a single wardrobe next to the single window, adjacent to his bed, and a painting hung from the wall next to the door. Besides his bed was a wooden desk, accompanied by a wooden chair and a candle. Another chair was lined up against the wall, next to the desk.

Nearing the window, Kai looked out and predictably, guards lined down below, all ready with crossbows. If he were to try and escape through the window, the guards would shoot him down before he’s even able to take a step towards the castle’s walls.

Kai turned abruptly around upon hearing the doors be thrown open once more and a new person whom he’d never met before walked in, the door closing in after him.

With a look of hostility, Kai said with an edge to his voice, “Who are you?”

The boy looked incredibly young to be a scholar and had to be around the same age as him. The stranger tsked in annoyance, shaking his head in disapproval. “From your poor manners, you must be the newcomer. Honestly, the King could’ve assigned me to someone whose manners didn't fall behind shortly of a dog’s, but there’s nothing I can do about that now, is there?” he said almost as if he was complaining to himself. “I’ve got to say, I am surprised how you’ve managed to stay alive for this long if you’ve been walking about with that kind of attitude.”

Kai chose not to respond and cautiously took in the boy who was taller than the average height but still fell shorter than him by a pinch.

“My name is Kang Taehyun and from today onwards, you are my responsibility.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ajdkajdas I still can't believe I managed to pull this chapter out. Honestly, with how busy I am with school I'm legitimately scared and worried about how soon I'll be updating bc I have NO clue when the next update will be and that makes me unease since I usually have some sort of idea when I think the next chapter will be out but now I genuinely don't know. (இ﹏இ`｡) 
> 
> Despite my school, social, and personal life, I will try my absolute hardest to keep writing as I have soooooo many things planned out for this au as well as new aus. 
> 
> In relation to this chapter, I wasn't going to introduce Taehyun until the next chapter but I've waited so long to get this chapter out, he's fucking making his debut TODAY. Also, instead of a pact, I was originally going to make it a peace treaty but treaties are usually handled between two countries and it doesn't really fit well to this story and a pact feels more accurate??? (That part was annoying to write.) Anyways, I hope everyone is doing well. <333


	7. Equilibrium

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "A library is like an island in the middle of a vast sea of ignorance..."  
-Lemony Snicket

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, moas! So, here's another lengthy chapter. There's a lot of information to be processed here so I hope it isn't too much. Please enjoy this chapt! <3

Taehyun moved away from his position near the door and started to approach the faerie only to walk past him. Kai turned around to see him briefly look out the window before turning to face his body back at him, crossing his arms over his chest in a manner almost bored-like before leaning his back against the wall.

“Have you ever heard about the Queen’s scepter?”

Slowly, Kai began to understand. Realization dawned on him and everything started to make more sense. If the King gets his hands on the scepter, he could rage war and conquer the faerie forest kingdom. He didn’t want to save his son. His intention was to never break the curse. 

Kai felt his breath faltered for just a split second and he struggled trying to keep the panic from being shown on his face, careful not to let Taehyun know what he was thinking about.

Kai kept his voice firm but even as he refuted, “The scepter doesn’t exist.”

“But it does." Taehyun didn’t show a flicker of doubt on his face as he said, "It’s just that not many people know how to actually find it.”

“How do _ you _ know where the Queen’s scepter is?” Kai shot back.

Taehyun didn’t respond back immediately and instead made his way towards the door again, opening it. He turned around upon noticing the faerie wasn’t following him.

“Do keep up with me,” he said.

The faerie kept his gaze even with the shorter boy before shortly following after him. Kai noticed when he walked out of his room that the guards outside his chamber were suited fully in armor made of steel. They stood perfectly still, almost statue-like, as they tensed at the faerie’s presence.

The young boy tsked quietly in annoyance, for if he were to use his power on them, his magic would simply dissipate against the steel armor. His powers were basically rendered useless.

As they walked alongside each other, Kai realized that there was no need for them to be escorted as there were guards at every turns and corners, all lined up parrallel to each other against the walls. It was safe to say, the place was guarded and secured to the max.

Kai opened his mouth to speak but the scholar boy beat him to it.

“Our history of humans and faeries in this world can be traced back centuries upon centuries ago. There are several ancient artifacts and scriptures that tell stories of magical creatures and numerous accounts and ancient books that document all the events that occurred before our time, all of which can be found in the main library of the castle.”

Taehyun allowed the boy time to fully absorb all the information that was being fed to him before continuing, “The scepter is an ancient artifact that hasn’t been seen for more than three hundred years. It is said that the magical staff belonged to the first queen that reigned over the forest kingdom and was passed down from generation to generation to the next ruler but got lost amidst the first civil war among the humans. One side of the war sought alliance with the faeries, but the fairies refused to meddle with the mortals’ business as they saw the war unnecessary and pointless. Ever since then, there has been a divide among mortals and fairies. A separation of the two people.”

After turning another corner, there was a doorway with no door that led to a set of spiral stairs at the end of the hall. As they were walking, Kai made a mental picture in his head of the layout of the west wing of the castle. The two boys began climbing up the stone steps, ascending up the spiral stairs as Taehyun continued on.

“Seeing as the faeries weren’t going to help them with the war, humans began raiding the faerie forest, stealing all that could help them win their ongoing civil war. As a result, the queen at this time and the fairies all agreed to hide the scepter in a place the mortals wouldn’t be able to find, for they feared if the humans ever got their hands on the scepter, the damage would be far too great to repair.”

Kai focused intently on each word, trying to engrave the information in his head and paint a vivid image in his mind of the past. “So how does one find the scepter?” he asked after a moment of silence.

“Several books has been uncovered and brought to light after my team and I had figured out how to decipher the language the fairies used,” Taehyun said with pride swelling up in his chest and this didn’t go unnoticed by the faerie. “In the books, it reveals the location of the scepter and how to obtain it. However, one must enter the faerie forest and find the stone circle. By painting a special set of hieroglyphics on the stones, a portal will open up in the center of the circle, leading to another realm known as the Mystic Realm."

Kai’s ears perked at that and he turned his head slightly to look at the scholar as he clarified, “That would be the origin of faeries and all other magical creatures.”

Although Kai may not have had the same access to the abundance of books and resources like Taehyun did, Kai was slightly familiarize with the Mystic Realm as Jimin would mention it a few times here and there when he was trying to educate the boy about where their kind came from.

“Correct,” Taehyun confirmed. “By using the portal, that was how the fairies claimed a small part of our neighboring lands and populated it over time with magical creatures, thus creating their own kingdom. The book states that in order to attain the scepter, one must travel to the Mountain of Deception after entering the realm and slain the dragon that protects its treasure within the mountain.”

When the two young boys passed a nearby window, Kai took a quick glance out the stained glass panels and saw they were high up from the floor level of the castle. They were so far off from the ground that Kai could just about make out the outline of the border that separated the kingdom from the forbidden forest. Taehyun’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

“If one succeeds in defeating the dragon, the next step is to enter the cave at the top of the mountain and to follow where the tunnels lead inside. That’s when something known as the Dark Mist will appear. The mist is no ordinary mist, however. It messes with the person’s head and causes hallucinations. It will drive one to insanity if they fail to find their way out and will forever be trapped in the mist. 

“And if one was to succeed against the mist?”

“Then the Queen’s scepter will present itself.”

When Taehyun stopped in his tracks, Kai realized they finally arrived at their destination. Stood in front of them was a double set of wooden doors. Taehyun wrapped one hand around the handle of the door and pulled.

“Welcome to the main library.”

Kai stepped inside and felt the air leave his body as he took in the surroundings. Having grown up with little to no access to proper schooling, Kai mostly obtain his education from Jimin who taught him the basics of math, science, and history. He knew how to write his name and could even write out the alphabet (when he wanted to). But he never had much books to practice reading. 

Education was a sort of luxury that was mostly assesible to nobility, so libraries and proper classrooms was a rarity among townsfolk, nevermind lowlife peasants. Kai has never seen so many books all in one place, sat neatly in their respective shelves, but hardly ever getting to be read. It was truly a shame.

As Kai was busy admiring his new favorite place, feeling as if he was in the middle of an ocean of knowledge, an oasis one may call it that, he hadn’t realized the scholar’s presence was gone and that he had briefly left his side.

When Taehyun returned back after a moment, Kai turned his head at the scholar and immediately, his eyes were drawn to the short stack of books in the scholar’s hands.

“Read all of this,” he shoved the pile of books onto the taller boy. “When you finish your task, you are to report back to your room and wait for dinner to be served to you. The following day you will receive your schedule for the remainder of your time here and you will follow according to the specific schedule.” Suddenly, his tone changed drastically to a more serious one, “The books are _ not _ to be taken out of this room. If the guards or King finds out that a book is missing and catches you, there will be severe consequences.”

As Taehyun finish off with that note, he turned his back around and proceed to exit out the library. Kai quickly called out to him before he could take one step forward, “Where are you going?”

The scholar whipped his head around at the faerie, face drawn up into a deep scowl as he berated him with fervor, “Do not mistake me for your personal maid. Like many others, I have responsibilties and duties of my own to be taken care of.” 

With that, the scholar turned on his heels once again and left Kai to go about his job of reading two thick books and a couple of smaller ones. In theory, if he started reading now, he could possibly finish before midnight occur if he decides to skip dinner.

Kai turned around to observe the library once more and notices that the place is currently isolated with the only exception being himself. Choosing to see what books he had to read, the faerie approach a desk at the far back of the library and planted the pile of books in front of him. He pulled out a chair to sit down and started with the first book on top of the stack. On the front cover read, _ An Introduction to Hieroglyphics. _He skimmed through the pages and saw various symbols, all of which he has never seen before, written in such strange and complicated ways. He stopped at a random page and briefly read the information that was provided. 

To simplify it, there is a special kind of hieroglyphics used to open up a portal to many different realms of all kinds. Each symbol needs to be drawn correctly or else the symbol will take on a whole completely different meaning. Kai mentally noted to himself that he would need to be careful of that. 

Closing the book and setting it aside, Kai moved on to the next book from the stack. The next book was significantly thicker and heavier than the first one. The title of the book was called _ Realms: A Brief History of Creations and Destructions. _After taking a couple minutes reading just the first couple of pages, Kai came to an understanding that there is more than just one realm in the universe. In fact, numerous realms exist. One can travel through each realm by opening a portal. The portal can only be open up in a stone circle, a total of twelve tall stones forming into the shape of a circle. In order to activate the portal, hieroglyphics must be drawn in blood on the stones and the portal will open in the middle. 

When Kai thought he had read enough from the book, he moved on to the third book, _ Mountain of Deception. _When Kai was a couple pages into the book, he came to the realization that this was a book narrating a story. There was no facts or concrete information, but only the explicit details of what adventuring into the Mystic Realm is like, told in a storytelling way. 

At last, Kai came to the last book from the pile Taehyun gave him. The last book, however, perked his interest and curiosity the most out of all the other books, for it was a book that informs about the ancient magical artifacts used centuries ago. Looking for a specific artifact, Kai finally found the Queen’s scepter section of the book. It is known as the Queen’s scepter because the scepter was created by the first ever faerie queen and she was only ever called, Queen, by other faeries and creatures. The scepter was one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful weapon, made to keep all things balance. This increased Kai’s curiosity by tenfolds and he continued reading more. 

The scepter was created to balance out the good and evil in the world. If one was to use the staff with bad, immoral intentions, the staff would allow its power to be utilized in such ways, but will curse those with said intentions. In contrast, if one was to use the staff as a tool whether than a weapon, the magical staff will glow a bright yellow, communicating its welcoming to them holding its power. In other words, if a person's heart is good and pure, the scepter will accept them. If the person’s heart is evil and wicked, the scepter will curse them. 

As many of the faeries and creatures saw that the magical staff was too powerful for anyone to use on their own, the staff was only used as a way to crown the new king or queen of the faerie kingdom. The faerie being crowned would have to hold the scepter and if the scepter accepted them, they would come to be the new king or queen. This was the new ritual performed and adapted ever since.

Only about two hours had passed since Kai briefly read through each books. Contemplating momentarily about whether he should use the remaining of his time to indulge himself in hours upon hours of reading, Kai decided that he would go back to his room to rest and wait for dinner as he hasn’t eaten since the morning, which wasn’t very much since his breakfast was interrupted from having had been kidnapped. Before he got up and left, he thought about taking the book of hieroglyphics with him. Obviously, he would need time to practice writing and memorizing the hieroglyphics, as the symbols were beyond simplicity and would require more time to learn and master.

Deciding to hell with it, he placed his hand on top of the book and with deep concentration, focused intently on the shape and size of the item he envisioned in his head. When he lifted his hand off the book, he had seen that the book was now replaced with a small, green, sinuate leaf. He smiled victoriously as he picked the leaf off the table and held it in between two fingers before placing it into his pocket. If he got caught, how would it really matter if all he was doing was helping in finding the Queen’s magical scepter?

Already had made up his mind, Kai left the books where it was on the table to come back to next time and proceeded to walk out of the library, making his way back to his chamber. As much as it was killing him to look around and explore the castle a bit more, he knew he couldn’t just walk about freely when the halls were heavily secured at this time of the day. 

So, he decided he would go tonight. 

He also began thinking about how he could get himself out of his current situation being somewhat of a prisoner in the castle and take himself and Jimin back to the faerie forest now that he didn’t have to hide his true identity anymore. No matter what, he couldn’t let the scepter fall into the hands of the King.

As he was walking back to his room, he constructed a plan in his head that will allow him to sneak out and discover new areas of the castle. He paid no attention to the guards, however, when he began nearing his room. He did think it strange how there seemed to be more guards outside his chamber than usual, but thought nothing of it. 

When he opened the door to his room, a wave of déjà vu hit him at full force as he found the Prince being in a place where he wasn't supposed to be once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been really into tyunning lately and the duo just warms my heart so much. (sookai is still my main but they better watch out👀). 
> 
> Also, as im writing this au I've realized that I’m drawing in inspiration from various sources. So ill just name a few I can think of off the top of my head rn: throne of glass, gakuen Alice, an ember in the ashes, taehyun’s Weverse post, etc 
> 
> Thirdly, did u guys' watch beomkai's vlive? Beomgyu is fucking messing with moas bc he clearly thinks we're fools to believe he's not wearing a wig. Who does he think he's fooling? And for the majority of the vlive I kept staring at kai's eyes bc they're so fucking beautiful. King of pretty eyes, practically invented eyes (im clearly joking)
> 
> so yeah, that's about it I think and I'm sorry for the long note but had to get that off my chest. Also, plsplsplspls stream crown at least 3 times a day and create many accounts for mama voting as they won't allow new accounts to be created again during voting period. I hope you all have a good experience and fun time with our first txt's comeback and let's work hard on giving these boys the recognition they deserve!!! <3


	8. Upheaval

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who would've thought the faerie isn't the only one up to no good?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! It's been a long time since the last chapter but the new chapter is finally here!!! School and txt's comeback had been keeping me busy for the last couple weeks and it was hard to find time in between to finish this chapter which was already half written during the time but now that the quarter of the semester is coming to an end in my school, I can finally relax a little bit. With that in mind, please enjoy the chapter!

Kai didn’t say anything at first, choosing to instead observe the tall boy who looked incredibly awkward standing in the middle of the room, looking almost lost. The Prince shifted his weight on his other foot, not knowing what to do with his hands as he busy himself trying to avoid the other boy’s gaze. Kai closed the door behind him and the sound of the door clicking shut brought Soobin’s attention back to him.

Perhaps it was the tiredness in his eyes making him appear older than he actually was or the slight subtle hint of apprehension lingering in the air between them, but Soobin could’ve sworn a flicker of uncertainty and ambivalence crossed his face for just a split second. If he had blinked, he would’ve missed it.

“I’m busy at the moment, your _ Highness_,” Kai’s voice dripped with sarcasm. “Now is perhaps not a good time for socialization.”

Soobin only shook his head stubbornly like a little kid before confessing. “You deserve to be mad at me,” he said before quietly admitting, “I’m just glad you’re still alive.” 

Kai narrowed his eyes down at him. “Do you have any idea what you’ve just done?” He said sharply. “If the King gets ahold of the Queen’s scepter, he becomes the biggest threat to humanity and all other living creatures on this planet.”

Slowly but surely, tension was building up in the room and neither have taken notice of the sudden shift in the air around them yet.

“It would’ve happened either way,” Soobin began. “Taehyun would’ve told my father what he discovered sooner or later. I just leaked him the information about that scepter in exchange for your life,” he tried to explain.

“And that shall become the most grave mistake you will ever make in your life. Giving the King that sort of knowledge is impeccably dangerous and utterly idiotic. Those books should’ve been burned immediately upon finding them.”

“And what should I’ve done?” At this point, both parties had their voices raised against each other, trying to get the other person to understand. “Stand by and watch as my father publicly execute you? The second you’d enter the castle, you’d never be able to escape. My father deliberately put the castle in battle mode in case you were to cause havoc.”

“Now I have to give the most powerful weapon in the world to your father. How is that any better?” The faerie spat with venom.

Soobin gnawed at his lips in frustration and Kai tried to not let his attention detour to the plump lips being abused by the Prince’s teeth.

“Father may not be the perfect person in the world and is flawed in many, many ways, but his soul and consciousness is not of pure evil. He would never commit such treacherous acts for his own personal gain.”

At that moment, an epiphany had struck the faerie. Kai finally understood. He couldn’t change the Prince’s mind simply with just his words. No. If Kai had learned anything from knowing the Prince in the last twenty four hours, it was that the Prince was loyal. Loyal to all whom he loved and cared for with no exceptions to strangers. That was one of his good, admirable traits. 

Then again, it was one that would get them all killed. 

Kai realized that if he couldn’t convince the Prince that his father was corrupted and evil beyond words, he was going to have to show him some other way. The only problem was...how?

“If I can prove it to you—that your father is truly evil—then you have to help me find the Queen’s scepter and hide it far, far away where the King will never find it.”

Soobin bit the corner of his lips, intensely focused on the other boy who was nearly closed to casting the Prince's lips screwed shut if he didn’t stop playing with his lips in front of him soon. However, there was no denying the change in their relationship. Although their progress in friendship was underwhelming, it felt as if they had only taken two steps forward and ten steps back. 

“You don’t have much time before you're expected to leave the castle in search for the Queen's scepter,” he said at last, eyes flickering between the floor and the faerie’s eyes. “Whatever you’re planning, it best be done as soon as possible.” 

The Prince then walked swiftly passed Kai and out of the room without sparing the faerie another glance. The door closed after him and Kai was left all alone in his chamber. 

Kai took in a huge breath before exhaling slowly through his nose. The longer he was in the castle, the more he felt like his head was going to explode and he was merely just a ticking time bomb away. Finding the Queen’s scepter was already challenging enough. Now, he needed to get the Prince on his side. 

The faerie strolled to his bed and flopped tiredly onto the mattress. He pressed his face firmly to the clean, white sheets, inhaling the scent of something that he can only describe as if he’s floating on a bed of clouds. He closed his eyes and imagine himself flying high into the air. So high, the earth below him vanished and was replaced with an ocean of big, fluffy, white clouds. He imagined that he had wings again—like the ones he had when he was just a small boy, barely learning how to fly properly—and he smiled at the thought of looking like a clumsy bird but he would’ve still had his wings. If only his mother hadn’t taken them away from him.

The smile quickly disappeared off his face as fast as it had appeared in the first place. Kai slowly brought one hand to reach behind his back, feeling the missing spot where his wings had been that was now replaced with an ugly scar—two ugly scars.

Kai quickly sat up on his bed when he heard a timid knock on the door. After staring blankly at the door for a moment, the door swung open and a small girl stood in the doorframe. 

She held a silver tray in both hands which Kai could only assume was filled with his dinner. The little girl kept her eyes glued to the floor, not daring to bring her head up to look at the faerie. 

She stood there for another minute before Kai finally decided to say something.

“Are you waiting for an invitation?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, the little girl jumped, nearly dropping the entire tray. Her hands were visibly shaking and her knuckles turned white from gripping onto the tray with a little too much force than was necessary. The little girl shook her head as her only response. Kai noticed the bland uniform she was wearing and realized she was one of the maids. If he had to guess, Kai would say the little girl was no more than ten years old.

“Feel free to come in any day now. It’s not like I’m starving over here.”

To his surprise, the little girl stepped further into his chamber, but before he could open his mouth to say something else to the girl, she had already hastily placed the tray onto his desk and left the room like lightning. 

Kai didn’t pay much attention to the girl’s odd behavior and instead, got up to walk towards his desk. All that was given to him was a small cooked bird with a side of baked potato. A piece of bread and a small block of cheese accompanied his meal. If Kai recalled correctly, the last time since he’s eaten meat was that one time he was living with Jimin and they had run out of their last food supply. They had no money and the forest was still heavily guarded since the war between the King and the faerie forest queen was still ongoing.

Kai had no other choice but to trap a rat in their small shack and strangle the poor thing to death. The most memorable, strangest thing he remembers from that one memory was how _ easy _ it felt. No sudden rush of shock or sorrow ran through his body. He only felt a sense of peace and serenity wash over him as he watched the life slowly drain out from the rodent’s body. 

Jimin never made him kill again. 

Kai’s hand went to reach for a fork but as his hand hovered over the silverware, it dawned on him that it was stainless _ steel_. He retracted his hand, glaring at the set of eating utensils in despise. He’s only ever eaten with wooden cutleries before. So, he grabbed the bread and cheese and brought it with him walking towards his window to sit on the windowsill.

He teared a piece out of his bread with his teeth as he stared out of the glass panel, silently observing the scenery outside his chamber. There really wasn’t much besides for a small section on the far right side, reserved for the maids to hang up wet laundry and another area farther into the distance, a horse stable. 

He then reaverted his eyes down towards the guards. They all had their crossbows clocked and ready to fire small beads of iron at a certain faerie if he was up to no good. If one of the bullets hit him, his power would be suppressed as the tiny iron ball pierced through his skin and burns him from the inside and out. In other words, the pain would be excruciating.

After finishing the last bit of cheese in his hand, Kai dusted the fallen bread crumbs off his lap and got up to tuck himself underneath the covers of his bed. He hadn’t bothered checking the wardrobe for any pajamas, for it wasn’t long before he’d get up hours later and sneak out of his room. The sun was just about setting, casting a warm, orangey glow in the room and Kai forced himself to stay awake trying to listen for when the guards’ shift would be over and a new set of guards was cycled.

By listening to the several footsteps outside his door for hours, Kai learned that for every two hours, the guards positioned outside his chamber would be exchanged with new guards who would take over their shift and the cycle would be rotated again and again. Every so often, his door would be open and a guard would peer its head through the crack. Once confirming the boy was asleep, the door would shut back closed and Kai’s eyes would fly back opened.

Kai just needed to figure out how he was supposed to get passed the guards. 

As if his prayers have been answered, he heard a small squeak from beneath his bed. He thought he had imagined it at first but the sound repeated itself again much clearer. Crawling out from under the sheets, Kai bent half his body over the bed to peer down below. It was hard to see much of anything at this time of the night but Kai knew something was hiding amidst the darkness.

“Come out,” he demanded.

As if drawn from some sort of magical spell, a small creature walked out of the dark, revealing itself. There stood a brown-greyish rat, staring up at the faerie with its black, beady eyes.

Kai lifted the corner of his lips in a tiny smirk, muttering to himself, “I knew it.” 

The rat dipped its head to the side, peering back at the boy with a curious gaze. 

“There’s more of you, aren’t there?” Kai asked his new, furry friend. The rat chirped in reply causing Kai’s grin to only broaden.

“Will you help me?”

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

“The boy’s still in there?”

“Just checked. He’s out like a light.”

It must be way past midnight at this point as the castle now seemed to be quiet with sleep. The only sound filling the corridors was the occasional shifts of the guards’ feet as they would delight themselves in conversations with other guards to relieve their boredom.

“Having a faerie within the castle—it’s simply absurd,” one guard muttered quietly to the guard besides him.

“Do not criticize the King’s decision. You can get burned at the stake for sedition.”

The guard did not seem fazed at all by the warning and only continued expressing his disapproval. “We’ll die anyways with that wretched, despicable creature sleeping right next door-” 

Stopped by a hand to his face, the guard beside him shushed him to be quiet. He watched as the guard turned his head in both directions before staring back at him. “D’ ya hear that?”

“Yeah,” he answered. “It’s the sound of my fist meeting your face if you don’t stop messing around, ye?”

The guard only shook his head, furrowing his brows in concentration. “Shh, shh. Listen again.”

And they listened.

“...Sounds like a mouse to me.”

“Sounds like there’s a lot more than just one.”

“Mice ain’t gon’ hurt ya, is it?”

Expecting a comeback to be thrown back at him, the guard noticed that the other seemed to be strangely quiet as he stared back at him with widened eyes.

“Not gon’ answer me then?”

The guard opened and closed his mouth repeatedly like a fish, pointing at his shoulder with a shaky finger. “R-rat,” he stuttered.

The guard turned his head to the right and sure enough, a rat as big as his hand was sitting on top of his shoulder, shining him its dark orbs. Giving a not-so-manly yelp, the guard swat the rat off his shoulder and the animal squirmed away hurriedly into a hole at the bottom of a nearby wall.

“Filthy rodent,” he muttered, voice full of disgust. “It better had not spread any of its deseases on me.”

Before the other guard could say anything else, they were interrupted again by the sound of high pitched squeaks that seemed to surround them from all sides, catching the attention of the rest of the guards in the corridor. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked around in pure confusion with a look of slight concern plastered on their faces. 

Before they knew it, the entire hall was being swarmed with an army of rats catching them off guard. They were coming in herd after herd until eventually, there wasn’t a single spot covered on the floor with dark fur or a long tail. Many began crawling up the walls and jumping on to the guards’ faces, slithering their way inside of the heavy armor. 

Loud shouts of terror ran through the corridor as the rats gathered around their feet and began crawling all over the guards. At this point, the guards, in a state of panic, didn’t know what to do. Although many quickly flee the corridor, some tried to fend off the attacks from the rats only to find very little success in doing so and it wasn’t long until they would join the rest of the other guards in taking refuge elsewhere. As the last of the guards ran out of the corridor, the rats followed closely behind, relentlessly chasing them all out.

The corridor soon became evacuated and silence filled up the rest of the vast space. Once confirming there was no one else left, Kai pulled his ear away from the door and twisted the knob carefully. He peered his head out and indeed, the corridor was left empty. Closing the door behind him, he proceeded down the hall and turned in the direction of where the main library was.

Instead of turning the corner where the spiral staircase were, Kai turned in the opposite direction, walking to the other end of the corridor. Navigating through the castle was a bit challenging than he expected, especially as he only had the few torches scattered here and there on the wall to help light up the path. He had to be careful not to get himself lost. 

Just as he was about to turn another corner, he stopped dead in his tracks when he heard voices approach the other end of the corridor he was about to walk through. 

He looked around and he couldn’t find any place to hide in the short amount of time he had left before the approaching footsteps would turn down in the corridor he was currently in. When he thought he was either going to have to choose between trying to explain himself or temporarily subdue whoever was approaching, an idea struck him like lightning.

With a quick wave of his hand, he sent a strong gust of wind to blow out all the torches on the wall, leaving only a single torch to be lit. There were no windows to provide an alternative light source, so Kai was effectively concealed in the darkness that took over the corridor

When the footsteps turned the corner, Kai could see that it was two people, one of them holding a lantern. He walked further into the darkness, pressing his back gently against the wall behind him.

“I thought I told those dim witted guards to light up the corridors,” one of them spoke. “I swear they never do their jobs correctly.”

“Don’t be so harsh on them, Beomgyu,” the other said and Kai immediately recognized that voice. “You can’t blame them if they’ve been a little...preoccupied lately with a certain faerie on their hand.”

The Captain only turned his head away from the other boy, blond strands of hair falling in his face as he scoffed lightly. “His sudden arrival here interrupts our plans. We have to gather the rest and discuss another plan to be put into action as soon as possible,” he paused and looked around before quietly adding, “Before it’s too late.”

“The faerie changes _ nothing_. We stick to the original plan,” the other said sternly. “Our time is strictly limited at the moment.”

“We should at least tell Soobin.”

“Letting Soobin know is as stupid and dangerous as letting Yeonjun know what we’re up to as well. They’re both too close to the King, it’s not a matter up for discussion.”

“What we’re doing is already dangerous.”

“Telling the Prince is not going to make it any less dangerous than it already is.”

“You don’t know that.”

“We don’t have the luxury to relieve our curiosity,” the other snapped. “One wrong move and everything we’ve been working on would be for nothing. The future of this kingdom would be jeopardized and we don’t get a second chance. It’s crucial you remember we can’t afford to make any mistakes.”

The boys were already at the other end of the corridor and Kai stood frozen like a statue from his spot, hidden deep in the shadow. As he heard them turned the corner, Kai quietly replayed the scholar’s words in his head.

If he hadn’t known any better, he would have thought he heard the plan of a rebellion about to take place. And with that in mind, he began walking back to his chamber, humming quietly to himself, deep in thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should also mention that I changed the rating to mature since I remembered that this fic is gonna contain a lot of violence in future chapters and maybe gore?? (I'll be sure to add the tag if gore turns out being included). 
> 
> I've also watched the sequel to Maleficent recently and if you don't want to spoil it for yourself, CONTINUE NO FURTHER (and thank you so much for reading, I appreciate your patience and I'm already working on the next chapter<333)
> 
> [SPOILERS AHEAD!!!]
> 
> I'd like to start off by saying how I don't think I've ever met such an unlikeable princess (well, I suppose she's considered a queen when maleficent crowned her the queen of the forest but that's besides the point). I don't completely hate her character in the movie but I wouldn't say aurora is close to being my fav character either. First, she wanted maleficent to cover her horns and if it was physically possible to be transformed into another realm, I'd slap a bitch. Then, she didn't stand up for maleficent when queen ingrith was saying how aurora would finally have a real, loving mother who would take care of her once she married her son as if she didn't already have a badass mother literally sitting besides her who watched over her since she was a baby. Maleficent was then accused of cursing the King and aurora didn't trust her when she said she didn't do it. At last, she gets maleficent killed at the end. I don't know how they managed to do it, but they really made aurora one hell of an annoying character (maleficent came back to life and turned into a badass dragon but again, that's besides the point). 
> 
> It may seem that I really disliked the movie by all my criticizing of one character, but I assure you I was vey pleased and satisfied (somewhat) with the movie. I would've liked to see more of Diaval, however. I think Sam Riley is a fantastic actor for diaval and I loved and treasured all the scenes he was in.
> 
> That's all im gonna say about the movie and if you haven't watched the movie I highly recommend that you do. And im sorry if this note is too long but I just had to pay tribute to the movie, considering this whole au is inspired from the first movie. 
> 
> Truly, truly, thank you for reading, I'm beyond grateful, and I hope to get the next chapter out real soon. <333


	9. Brittle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mother knows all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has actually been done for quite some time now, but there's some part I didn't like so I had to scrap it out. There's still some parts that I‘m unsatisfied with but I really wanted to get this chapter out asap. Please keep in mind that this chapter might not be the best and I'm not too proud of this chapter compared to the other chapters I've written. I think this could've been written a lot better but I will most definitely make major changes and go through revising in the near future. For now, please enjoy this basically rough draft of a chapter <333

Choking vehemently, Kai coughed up the water that had seeped its way up his nostrils (much to the delight of Taehyun). The rest of the water had taken its course down the smoothness of his throat and trickled below his collarbone, doing a fine job of essentially soaking the upperpart of his body with water. 

Waiting for the startled boy to finish with his abrupt fits of coughs, Taehyun tossed the empty bowl mindlessly off to the side and Kai, still gasping for air, finally looks up at the scholar whose eyes were already on him.

“Good. You’re up.” 

Kai scowled at Taehyun with a pair of darkened eyes and Taehyun could’ve sworn he saw a flicker of green reflect off of the surface.

“You couldn’t have woken me up normally?”

The scholar simply walked pass the bed towards the window, pulling the drapes opened and allowing light to seep into the room nearly blinding the still half asleep, groggy faerie. He turned back around to face the young boy, a subtle smirk playing at the corner of his lips.

“Now, where’s the fun in that?”

Kai didn’t even get a chance to sit all the way up when he was already being ordered by the shorter boy.

“First thing on the list: hygiene. I suggest a bath? I can hardly be three feets near you without feeling like I’m dirtying myself,” said Taehyun as his face twisted in mild disgust.

“Forgive me for not having free access to clean, hot water whenever I desire.”

Taehyun ignored him, bearing a slack expression on his face before continuing with his list, “Once you finished cleaning yourself up, you’ll be escorted to the kitchen on the ground floor. You’ll help the cooks and do your best not to get in their way.”

Kai narrowed his eyes at the shorter boy, quick on the offense. “Why am I doing work of a servant?”

Taehyun turned on his heels as he was proceeding to walk out the door. Holding in the urge to laugh, he regarded the boy carefully. “Did you honestly believe you were going to stay here for free?” he questioned exasperatedly. Taehyun couldn’t help but scoff lightly at the faerie’s naiveness. 

“If the cook deem your work acceptable, you’ll be given breakfast. I’ll be expecting to see you in the library by noon,” Taehyun said walking back towards the door but pausing momentarily to face the faerie again.

“Do _ not _ be late,” the scholar finished before he made his exit out of the room.

Letting a puff of air escape his lips, Kai finally pulled the damp material that clung to his torso uncomfortably over his head, cringing as his skin was met with the morning’s chilly air. Tossing his shirt off to the side, he got up and began getting ready for his first official day of living in the King’s castle. He noticed that the wooden tub was already filled with water that must’ve been taken care of by one of the maids. He proceeded to strip away the last article of clothing on him and carefully dipped his toes into the water, hissing at the coldness that brought shivers to his body.

After engulfing himself into the tub, he used a rag that hung on the edge of the tub to scrub away the dirt that stained his naturally pale skin. It wasn’t long before the cold, icy water began turning murky and Kai decided he was finished with his bath.

Drying his body with a cloth that he found near the tub, folded neatly, he approached his wardrobe and opened it to take a look inside. He wasn’t given much besides for a few spare outfits. His tunics were plain and bland in color and were a little too big for his scrawny figure as the maid who delivered his clothes didn’t exactly had the opportunity to take his measurements. But at least they were clean.

Kai picked out a black tunic and pulled the fabric over himself. The cotton material reached his mid thigh and the v-neck helped to reveal his defined collarbone. His long sleeves left plenty of room inside for his arms to move freely about but to his inconvenience, bundled up uncomfortably at the elbows when he would raise his arms ever so slightly up.

After getting changed next into black trousers and brown boots, Kai was careful not to forget to stuff the sinuate leaf into his pants pocket. The young faerie soon exited his chamber and was immediately met by a guard who escorted him down to the kitchen. 

As they were walking, Kai thought back about what he saw last night in the corridor. Taehyun and Beomgyu were obviously planning something but the question was _ what_? If his suspicions were correct and they really were forming a rebellion against the King, Kai didn’t know where that left him and Jimin in the middle of the equation. If he joined the rebellion, would he be given a chance to flee the kingdom and escape into the forest? Or would he refuse to choose a side and focus on his initial goal?

Kai didn’t have all the answers but if there’s one thing he’s certain of, is that he needed to be careful with who he trusted.

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

Kai didn’t know how many hours had passed but he knew it had been long enough, for his hands were nearly about to fall off. Placing the peeled potato in the bowl, he took another potato and brought the knife to its skin, starting the process of peeling the potato over and over again until it was naked of its skin.

When he had first walked into the kitchen, everyone paused with what they were doing, cautioualy taking in their newest helper who stood in the doorway. Afterall, it wasn’t common to see a faerie around anymore. Kai would be the first faerie some of them have ever even seen. Words were spoken as little as possible to the faerie as all the instructions Kai was given was to sit at the far corner of the room and peel the basket of potatoes that was given to him. He stared at the small knife and potatoes in front of him warily before he got started with his task, careful not to touch the blade of the knife. The first couple of minutes went by with Kai being thrown hesistant, cautious glances (and other, not so subtle glances as some would bravely, outwardly stare at him). 

Kai couldn’t help but squirm uncomfortably on his wooden stool. It wasn’t that he felt frightened at being almost closely monitored by curious eyes but rather because he’d never really had much experience with being in the kitchen. Jimin was usually the one in charge of the cooking while he spent most of his time disobeying his uncle’s orders to not go into the forest.

And even on the rare occasions when Kai would decide to help out in the kitchen, he had always caused more troubles than been much of a help. Of course, there was always the option that he used his powers to help prepare meals, but Jimin harshly reprimanded him everytime he suggested such an idea. It was too dangerous and risky, even if they did live in a more secluded area of the kingdom.

Eventually, everyone returned back to their duties and the kitchen fell into a steady working pace. The sound of hushed whispering was then replaced with the sound of pots boiling, dishes being washed, and people chattering alongside each other as they worked to chop up an assortment of vegetables and whatnots.

The sweet aroma of fresh bread being baked in the furnace and honey roasted pig being prepared made Kai’s stomach grumble steadily and he tried his best not to let the alluring smell distract him from his work. It was already grueling enough having to sit in his stool seat for hours, wrists aching, and not knowing when he’d ever be done.

While everyone was busy with their kitchen duties, Kai thought it’d be a perfect time to take out the book of hieroglyphics and indulge himself in a bit of quiet reading. He slid one hand into the pocket of his pants and pulled out the sinuate leaf. He held the leaf behind his back and transformed it back to its original form. He then set the book on the surface of his lap and opened the book to the first page. 

The next hour continued with Kai peeling the rough, dry patches off the potato to reveal its creamy flesh whilst keeping his eyes intently focused down on the book in his lap at the same time. 

Kai looked up from his potato peeling when he heard the clattering sound of a plate being placed on his table and pushed slightly in his direction. Before he could thank the person for delivering his food, they had already walked away to resume back to their next task.

Placing the knife and potato off to the side, Kai looked down at his plate with mild interest. It wasn’t anything fancy and obviously didn’t require much effort to make, but Kai still gobbled down his steamed cabbage, a slice of bread, and cottage cheese greedily. As soon as he had finished his meal, the twelfth bell rung from the bell tower in the distance but loud enough for the entire castle to hear, indicating that the time of the day has finally approached noon.

Relief and enthusiasm flooded through him immediately and he got up from his stool in one abrupt motion, failing to notice that the book on his lap fell to the floor. Kai picked up his empty plate and got up to place the dirty dish in the basin. A young maid who was at the basin didn’t notice the faerie’s presence until Kai reached his arm out to place his plate into the large, wooden bowl. The maid flinched when he realized how close the faerie was to her and nearly dropped the plate she was washing onto the floor. Without paying much attention to her, Kai walked away and proceeded to head out the door and into the corridor. 

When the faerie was long gone, one of the cooks went over to Kai’s station to retrieve the bowl of potatoes, failing to notice the fallen book beneath the table. Everyone was so busy, working quickly to prepare all the meals for the royalties that they barely even had time to stop and take a good look around the kitchen. Thus, the book remained forgetten in its place on the floor.

That was until a maid had come. 

She walked around the table, gathering the empty bowls and cleaning the surrounding area. As she was sweeping the floor, she felt her broomstick come in contact with a hard object. She bent down to retrieve what she thought was another bowl or perhaps a forgotten pot or pan, but to her confusion, discovered an abandoned book instead. She picked it up off the dusty floor and stood back up to read the cover. _ An Introduction to Hierogliphics, _it read.

Tilting her head to the side, the maid was further conflicted, finding the peculiar situation rather very odd. She didn’t know exactly what the book was or why it was even in the kitchen to begin with. Books were prohibited from all maids, servants, and any other lower class. She then carried the book with her and momentarily stepped out of the warm, stuffy kitchen and into the cool, chilly corridor that elicit a contented sigh out of her. Dusting away the dirt that clung to her apron and using the back of her hand to swipe at the flour mixed with sweat from her face, she began in search for a guard who could return the book back to its rightful place inside of the library, not knowing the exact consequences her actions will soon bring.

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

Not wanting to waste anymore time than was necessary, Kai began making his way towards the main library where he was meant to meet the young scholar at. However, he couldn’t help but noticed as he was walking past a large window, something that peaked his interest. Outside, there seemed to be a training ground. Kai watched silently as he observed the scene of swords clashing against each other and sweaty bodies falling backward to the ground.

Amongst all of them, one particular boy stood out. A flash of blond whirl its way to the center of the field, catching Kai’s attention. He watched as the blond boy took on two guards at once, hardly looking out of breath. As he continued to watch him, he suddenly recognized that he was the Captain he saw last night in the corridor along with Taehyun and an idea sparked in his head.

Only because it felt like months since Kai had really gotten to use his powers, he couldn’t help but toy with a devious, playful idea that was currently formulating in his head. He stood watching from the window, patiently waiting for the perfect time.

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

Beomgyu swung his sword at one of his opponents’ blind spots, sending the guard flying backward from the blunt force of his sword before quickly turning around to block his other opponent’s attack. Although a thin sheen of sweat was beginning to form at the base of his forehead, his movements remained light and swift. His feet moved as quick as lightning and his hours upon hours of brute training everyday reflected from the show of his quick, automatic reflexes, sharp movements, and precise attacks. His skills were obviously superb against everyone else on the field and he knew it. If there was anyone who came close to his level, it would be the King’s second-in-command. 

The Captain gritted his teeth in annoyance as the thought of the silver-haired young soldier infiltrated his head. However, the thought of the older only spurred Beomgyu on to be more aggressive than usual and encouraged the blond to go all out on his opponents, showing no mercy.

He ducked down to avoid a blow to his head and when he stood back up in his standard position to deliver a draw cut at his opponent, his foot slipped and he went immediately crashing to the ground, landing harshly on his back. The slip was so sudden and so unexpected that it took Beomgyu from surprise. Before he knew it, a sword was pointed directly to his throat, officially declaring the match over.

One of the guards exptended a hand out for Beomgyu to take, but Beomgyu swatted the hand away from him and pushed himself up from the dirt ground himself. 

In an effort to console him, one of the guards said to him, “We all have slip ups once in awhile, Capt.” 

But Beomgyu knew it wasn’t a slip up. When his foot slipped, it was like he had lost control of his own body and he knew the logic didn’t make sense in his head. Moreover, he’s never made a mistake. Years worth of training since his childhood days didn’t allow him to.

It was only when he turned around that he then noticed someone watching him from within the castle. His eyes met the faerie’s and realization struck him.

Eyes burning with a slow, drawn out kind of rage, Beomgyu began angrily making his way towards the faerie. His jaws were locked tightly in place and his nostrils were slightly flaring.

When Kai saw that the Captain was practically storming towards his direction, he quickly began walking away from the window and continued on his way towards the library, not wanting to face the furious blond and his wrath.

When he finally reached the library and entered, he stopped for a moment, scanning the area for a certain doe eyed scholar. When he couldn’t find him anywhere near the entrance, he tried walking further back into the library and finally found the smaller boy indulged in a thick book.

He walked towards him and before he could get out a word, Taehyun fired a question at him.

“Where’s the book?” the scholar wasted no second in questioning the taller boy.

From his harsh tone, Kai could tell that the scholar was furious with him again (not like he’s ever seen the scholar express any other emotions besides irritation, annoyance, and anger). Only this time, Kai noticed something was different in the air that was emitting from Taehyun like an aura.

Feigning innoncence, Kai brought his hands to his chest, sucking in a small gasp. “You wound me, Mr. Kang Taehyun,” Kai said in an exaggerated voice, mocking hurt. “Accusing me for something I most certainly, undoubtedly, perhaps did?” Kai shook his head slightly at the smaller boy, bringing his arms up to cross over his chest, tsking. “How bold of you.”

Before Taehyun could berate him for defying the one thing he told him not to do, the door to the library slammed opened, attracting the attention of the two boys. Kai turned around and saw that the guards had barged in, each step they took brought them closer to them. Just as he thought they were coming for him, the guards walked passed the faerie and took ahold of the scholar instead. Kai confusedly watched as they hauled the smaller boy out of his seat and started dragging him out of the library. Taehyun barely showed any resistance and allowed himself to be dragged roughly out by the hands of the guards.

Before they reached the door, Kai called out to them. “Where are you taking him?” 

One guard stopped and turned around to look at him. “You’re welcome to follow along,” he said after a moment of regarding the faerie carefully. “I can only imagine the King would be pleased to have your presence during an important demonstration,” he said lastly before leaving the faerie behind.

Kai stood there with a perplexed expression on his face before deciding to follow the guards. He hadn’t a clue with what was going on but he was curious to find out. When they made it to their destination, Kai realized they were in front of the King’s throne room. The doors opened and they walked in, the guards still keeping their death grip on the young scholar.

Taehyun was thrown roughly to the floor in front of the King who looked down at him with a look between mild interest and something of disappointment. Kai turned his head and also saw that the Prince was there in the room as well. Soobin stood next to his usual spot besides the King and when he noticed the faerie, he locked eyes with him, trying to communicate his confusion. Kai stared back at the Prince, shaking his head, conveying that he, too, was just as clueless as he was.

Soobin turned to his father, a troubling feeling swirling in his guts as he suspected something was wrong. “What’s going on?”

The King remained silent, watching. Kai stood a little away from Taehyun, watching silently as the guards stood to the side leaving Taehyun isolated in the center of the room. Kai looked up at the King who sat from his seat on the throne, face plastered with a crooked grin. Kai dragged his attention away from the King when he saw that one of the guards began to walk towards the scholar who sat on the floor, kneeling on both his knees. His head was hung low, avoiding anyone’s eyes. 

When Soobin was about to open his mouth to speak again, he paused when his eyes trailed to the guard who now stood behind Taehyun, cane in hand.

“Disgard your shirt,” the guard ordered.

Wide eyed, Soobin turned his head abruptly at his father, eyes growing furious. “What are you doing?”

The King paid no attention to his son once again and continued to watch the scene unfold in front of him. He rested his chin on the flat surface of his palm and watched amusingly, eyes unblinking.

Taehyun rid of his shirt and balled the material in his hands. Pressing his hands to the floor in front of him, he burrowed his knuckles into the soft fabric as he fought to keep his body quivering from the cold air and shaking in terror, already knowing what was about to happen to him.

“I expected more from you, Kang Taehyun,” the King spoke softly, being the first to break the intense, suffocating silence that engulfed the enormous room. “You have shown me that you are incapable of following simple instructions. From what I can see, I am clearly only received in immense disappointment and it’s a shame, truly.”

The King sighed after a moment of thinking. “It brings me much pain to have to do this but I know you will understand that this is for your own good.” He then nodded his head at the guard, signaling for him to proceed.

It was like the earth had stopped spinning for a considerate moment and everything froze for a heartbeat. After the deafening silence finished passing through the room, a piercing scream cut through the air.

Taehyun clenched his teeth so hard, he thought he’d break his jaw as his body tried desperately to recover from the shock of the first hit. He released another blood curdling cry when the cane came down on him much harder causing his trembling body to rock forward from the brute force of the cane. Taehyun thought he heard loud, desperate pleas from the Prince, begging the King to stop, but it was difficult to hear anything amongst his own screams of agony. 

Soobin set his foot forward to run towards Taehyun but was immediately stopped by a grip on his shoulder from one of the guards. He tore his body out of the guard’s grasp, face twisting in disgust at both the guard and his father. He made another attempt to go for Taehyun but predictably, his plan failed as he was held back by even more guards.

Soobin forced his eyes to look away from Taehyun when he noticed that the faerie had been oddly quiet during the whole ordeal. He saw that the faerie stood unmoving, feet rooted to the floor. His initial thought was that Kai was simply taken over by shock and was just as alarmed and internally panicked as he was.

It wasn’t until Soobin had stopped thrashing in the guards’ arms that he finally brought his eyes up to stare properly at the faerie’s small and pale face, and noticed that there was a quality of indifference about him. He looked into his eyes and tried to search for any hint of concern or even a sliver of sympathy but all that was there on the faerie’s face was a cold, stoic expression, completely devoid of emotions.

Aghast, Soobin couldn’t understand how someone could simply stand by without displaying any kind of reaction on their face as they watch a boy get severely caned bare skinned. He didn’t want to think that Kai was truly heartless. He didn’t want to look in his eyes and only find emptiness. 

Tears brimmed his eyelids, threatening to spill as he returned his attention back to Taehyun. When he finally looked back at the scholar, he felt his stomach flip inside out at the state Taehyun’s back was in.

Not a single spot on his once smooth, scar-free back was spared from the blunt force of the cane.

As Taehyun’s punishment carried on, Kai remained motionless, watching curiously. He didn’t know what to feel. He didn’t understand why the Prince was so upset. Kai didn’t quite know how to describe it, but it was like the room was suddenly engulfed underwater and no sound could reach his ears. Taehyun’s screams were muffled and the world seemed to grow darker around him. Kai couldn’t help growing a bit tired as there was nothing else for him to do.

_ I’m bored. _

Not wanting to be there any longer, he turned around and started heading for the door.

“KAI!”

Kai stopped dead in his tracks and blinked once. 

Then twice.

He turned back around, bringing his eyes up to look at the Prince’s tear-stained face. The sound of his name rolling off Soobin’s tongue felt foreign, even to him. 

“Do something!”

And suddenly, Kai looked back at the scholar and the water wasn’t there no more. He can clearly hear the screams and the harsh smack of the cane coming down on Taehyun’s bloody back, the loud sound ricocheting off the stone walls.

Kai stared at the scene before him and began lifting his hand to stop the guard before a voice whispered in his head.

_ No. _

Kai’s hand froze midway, the sound of his mother’s voice locking him in place and he brought his hand back down to his side. 

He looked up at the Prince. Then to the King. Then back at Taehyun.

And he tried again.

_ No. _

Kai’s hand dropped back down and stuck to his side. He wanted to try again—he really did. But he didn’t see why he should. Kai was washed over with a sudden fatigue that hit him from out of nowhere and he felt as if all his energy had been drained from him. He just wanted to go back home, wherever that was. He didn’t want to be here. He didn’t want to see the painful expression painted on the Prince’s face nor hear Taehyun’s desperate cries as his back was marked with another red line.

A moment passed by of careful consideration before Kai finally made up his decision. He turned his back around once more and left without sparing another glance behind him.

  
  


_ Good boy. _

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I've previously mentioned before, I'm not too happy about the quality of this chapter but I'm grateful if you've read through all of that mess (Also, Taehyun baby I'm so sorry). As I was writing the end of this chapter, I realized this is the 2nd time I've had Taehyun go through such a terrible experience in my aus and I promise that it will get better from here on out. Furthermore, I apologize for the long wait (again) but my thanksgiving break has officially started and I finally have time to write! There's still so many aus I have to update and more I want to write but unfortunately do not have the luxury of time. Thank you for being patient with me and I love you all with the entirety of my heart and more. Thank you, truly.


	10. Angel or Devil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angel or Devil?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. I've been incredibly busy these past couple of days mainly bc since I live in the U.S., my family wanted to celebrate thanksgiving. I did most of the cooking this year and recently, I found out that I surprisingly like cooking. I actually enjoy cooking so much I think I might've found a new hobby besides reading and writing which is super cool. Cooking just keeps me busy when I have too much to think about and am overwhelmed with stress. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

_ “Ma! Ma!” _

_ Kai nearly tripped over himself as he was running towards his mother. When he finally reached her, he had to take a minute to catch his breath before speaking again. Kai hated running. _

_ “What is it, dear?” _

_ “There’s a human! A boy, like me!” _

_ Immediately after hearing the word ‘human’, the queen’s face fell. _

_ “Where?” _

_ Kai lifted his finger in the direction behind him. _ _“By the east border of the forest. Ma, what are you going to do?”_

_ “Just stay here, Kai. Don’t follow me,” she said before lifting herself off the ground and soaring in the direction Kai pointed in. _

_ The queen would be lying if she said she wasn’t worried. Although her son told her that it was simply just a boy, a human was still perceived as a threat to the forest, especially with the ongoing tension that still lingered between the faerie kingdom and the King’s. She didn’t want no stranger anywhere near her son. _

_ Not able to restrain himself, Kai followed his mother, curious to see what’ll happen. Unbeknownst to him, the queen was already aware of his presence behind her despite him trying to be discreet. Kai was never good at following directions or orders. Even so, she did nothing to stop him, already had given up on him a long time ago when she learned that there was simply too much curiosity and defiance bottled up in such a small boy. _

_ When she reached the border, she flew down and came to a halt, landing on the ground with her feet graciously. Kai stood behind at a safe distance, watching from afar, but decided in the next second to stand besides his mother, wanting to get a closer look at the human. Just ahead of him, he can see a boy who looked to be around his age. He was sitting on the grass, near a tree with his knees to his chest and his head hung down low. _

_ Nearing closer to the human boy, the queen approached the small boy carefully. _

_ “What business does a human have in the faerie forest, I wonder?” _

_ The boy’s head snapped up at her and the queen saw that his eyes were red and puffy with tears. She also noticed how the human seemed to be frozen in place as his eyes widened in terror. _

_ “Please don’t hurt me,” the boy breathed out quietly. _

_ ”And why would I do that?” _

_ “I’m not supposed to be here, am I?” _

_ The queen looked at the boy peculiarly, not being able to help but smile softly at the boy’s innocence. She turned her head over her shoulder to look at her son who was hiding behind her. Kai couldn’t help but peek curiously at the young human but at the same time was afraid to go near him. _

_ “Or maybe you are,” she said before turning her attention back to the boy. “_ _Tell me little one, what brings you here?”_

_ “Father got angry at me a-and pushed me hard to the ground and I scraped my elbow,” the young boy confessed with wobbly lips, voice trembling before quickly adding, “But I know he didn’t mean it!” _

_ The queen only hummed in response to the boy’s confession and brought her eyes down to look at his elbow. She crouched down next to the boy and lifted her arm up. She began to reach out towards his arm when the boy flinched away before she could even touch him, clutching his elbow with one hand. _

_ The queen kept her hand in the air and smiled softly at the boy’s reaction. _

_ “May I?” She asked with gentleness laced in her voice, motioning towards his arm, careful not to further scare the poor boy away. _

_ After a moment of consideration, the small boy hesitated before finally allowing the queen to examine his wound. He held out his arm and the queen carefully slid her hand under his elbow and began turning it in different angles. _

_ It wasn’t anything too serious and no bones were broken, but there were still an impressive amount of blood that trickled down his forearm. The queen gently placed her other hand over the boy’s wound and the boy flinched slightly at her touch. Before he could ask her what she was doing, the queen lifted her hands away from his arm. The boy looked down at his elbow and saw that his wound had disappeared. He looked back up at her with widened eyes, clearly astonished. _

_ “Why did you do that for?” _

_ The queen simply smiled before answering, “No boy deserves to be the target of their father’s anger. You’re just a kid. You didn’t deserve that.” _

_ The boy returned his attention back to his healed elbow, still not being able to yet comprehend fully that his wound had completely vanished. One second, his elbow was gushing out blood profusely and then the next second it wasn’t. His arm was still stained with dried blood but he didn’t mind in the slightest. The small boy snapped his head back up at the queen when he heard her speak. _

_ “Kai?” _

_ The human then saw another boy near his age who looked up at the queen from behind her. _

_ “Walk the boy out of the forest for me, will you?” _

_ Kai knitted his brows together and shook his head stubbornly, face turning into a pout. The queen smiled lightly at her son, giving him a slight push in the human’s direction. Kai faced his head back at the boy and continued to stare at him, eyes unblinking. The human boy blinked nervously and was uncertained about going along with the younger faerie but held his gaze with him. _

_ “You need not worry young one. My son won’t hurt you,” the queen said to the human boy. _

_ “He’s a good boy.” _

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

Kai’s eyes flew open and he sat up in one abrupt motion. He turned his head slightly and saw that the sun was barely out and that his room was still engulfed in darkness. He continued staring out the window, recalling the dream he had.

Kai never once dreamt about his mother before. He’s never dreamed at all, really. Expectedly, he was surprised and left thoroughly confused and a mix of emotions swarmed his head relentlessly. He didn’t know what to think. 

What’s even more confusing for Kai is that the dream felt so real for him, it was almost as if he was right there. He felt as if his dream had happened before but he doesn’t remember any of it. He doesn’t remember ever meeting a boy when he was young and he doesn’t recall his mother ever helping a human before.

Kai closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to forget the forest, his mother, and the human boy altogether.

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

After Kai was finished with his kitchen duties, he was walking down the corridor when he spotted the Captain walking his way. Neither of the two spoke a word to each other but Beomgyu couldn’t help but knock his shoulder with Kai’s quite harshly when he walked passed him. Kai stopped in his tracks and turned back to watch the Captain walk away. He only turned back around when he saw that the Captain was no longer in sight. 

When he finally reached the main library, Kai walked in and headed for the back of the room. He spotted the scholar sat in the same seat he was in as the day before and not really knowing what else to do with himself, he quietly took a seat across from him. The books he was assigned to read was sat on the table in front of him and he assumed he should get to reading them immediately.

Just a couple of minutes into his reading, Kai looked up from the book he was reading to stare at the shorter boy across from him. From what he could tell, Taehyun was acting as if nothing had happened and it simply was just a normal day, studying in the library. However, he couldn’t tell if Taehyun was too absorbed in his own book to even notice his presence or if he was simply ignoring him. He assumed it was the latter.

“You’re going to hate me a lot more for what I’m about to do.”

At that, Taehyun snapped his head up immediately to look at the faerie, eyes narrowed in warning.

“What?”

Before Taehyun had time to blink or shout for the guards, Kai brought his hand in the air and casted the scholar to sleep with a quick wave of his hand and Taehyun collapsed with his upper body laying limply on the table. 

Kai quickly got up before anyone could walk into the library and he worked quickly to remove Taehyun’s shirt. Even when the shirt was removed, Kai had to unwrap the bandage from Taehyun’s torso. After the bandage was completely off, Kai was finally able to take a good look at Taehyun’s back. Everywhere was covered with cuts that varied in sizes. Some were deep enough that Kai could just about see the bones of his spine. 

Remembering that he had to hurry up before someone could walk in on him, he placed both his hands over Taehyun’s back and waited. Although there were an overwhelming amount of cuts all over his back, he tried his best to concentrate on each and every wound. 

After closing up the last few wounds on Taehyun’s back, Kai worked on putting the shirt over the scholar’s head, arms through the sleeves, and eventually over his torso. He didn’t bother wrapping the bandage back around him. 

Kai walked back to his seat and snapped his fingers, waking the scholar back up.

Taehyun immediately jolted up in his seat and when he realized what had happened, he glared openly at the faerie.

“What did you do?”

“I fixed your back,” Kai replied simply, holding the bundle of bloody bandages in one hand up for Taehyun to see.

Taehyun looked completely bewildered and slightly baffled by the faerie’s statement.

“Out of pure generosity and the kindness of your heart?” Taehyun scoffed as he shook his head slightly. “I don’t believe it for a second.”

“I just thought it’d make you start paying attention to me.”

Taehyun let a loud laugh escape him, startling Kai who wasn’t expecting such a reaction from him.

“God, you just can’t help being in the center of attention all the time, can you? It’s astonishing, truly.” When Taehyun didn’t think the faerie had anything else to say, he asked, “Do you honestly believe I’ll forgive you?”

“I honestly believe you didn’t deserve that.”

Silence lingered in the air for a moment after Kai spoken those words. Taehyun only continued to stare at the taller boy across from him, face bearing no emotions that Kai could distinguish and he continued.

“You may be incredibly ill-tempered, impossibly infuriating and annoyingly insufferable, not to mention an overall pain in my ass ninety-eight percent of the time, but you didn’t deserve to be caned as punishment for something that wasn’t your fault.”

Taehyun didn’t say a word as his eyes never left the faerie and Kai held his gaze evenly with the scholar.

“The way I see it, Kang Taehyun, you didn’t deserve that.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I've been thinking of writing another fantasy themed au which is largely inspired from the manga "Gakuen Alice" but I want to focus on one au at a time, specifically with this au at the time being. Gakuen Alice has this special place in my heart bc it was one of the first manga I read when I was about 13? 14? and I completely had fallen in love with the story, the characters, and basically everything about it. If anyone does find this manga interesting please do not watch the anime first bc the anime does not do the manga justice AT. ALL. And believe it or not, I've been thinking about it recently and Gakuen Alice actually reminds me a lot of Harry Potter in such, such a weird way.
> 
> Anyways, I want to take some time to express how grateful I am for having people who actually enjoy this fic and are invested into the characters and story as much as I am. I'm truly, truly thankful for the positivity and valuable support. 
> 
> Thank you<3


	11. Wreaking Havoc

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> be gay. do crimes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> one more week until I'm on Christmas break *deeply inhales* yessssssss
> 
> [chapter still in process of editing, pls don't mind any writing mistakes you'll probably find]

Taehyun was at his desk, writing letters to politicians and invitations to dukes, barons and lords that would be sent outside of the kingdom when the door to his chamber opened, revealing a distressed prince.

“Sorry I couldn’t stop by sooner, my father didn’t released me out of my room until I would ‘come back to my senses’, he said.”

Taehyun responded without looking up from his papers, “I know. It’s fine.”

Soobin continued with his stream of worries and doubts, “Have you let a nurse take a look at you yet? Will you be okay? Can you still walk?”

“I said I’m find, hyung.”

“I saw the way you were walking out the door. You were limping, you could barely even walk straight!”

Taehyun sighed softly in annoyance, setting his quill down, and stood up from his chair. Before Soobin could ask what he was doing, Taehyun turned around so that his back was facing the older and he reached over his shoulders to lift his shirt just far enough to reveal his back. After a moment, Taehyun released his shirt and turned back around to face the stunned Prince.

For a minute Soobin didn’t understand. He stared dumbly at Taehyun until he managed to snap himself out of his shock. Voice soft and delicate as glass, he proceeded to ask, “Who did that?”

Taehyun didn’t answer him immediately as he sat back at his desk, resuming back to his work. “Don’t ask me questions you already know the answers to.”

It was like everything Soobin ever knew about Kai was wrong. Or maybe he never really knew him at all. Soobin clenched his fists tightly by his sides, nails breaking through the skin as he turned back around to walk out of the room. He was so frustrated at his father, frustrated at the kingdom—hell, frustrated at the whole damn world, but most of all, he was frustrated at himself. His chest felt tight with vexation and the sudden urge to scream overwhelmed him. It was all too much for him to take in and process in his head. 

As he reached his hand for the door knob, the door opened in one abrupt motion, startling Soobin for a second. He met eyes with the Captain and he considered opening his mouth to say something but decided against it at the last second. Instead, Soobin swiftly walked past the blond without uttering a single word. 

Beomgyu watched silently as the Prince left and he waited until Soobin was completely out of sight before shutting the door closed behind him and locking it. He turned back around to face the scholar.

“Did I interrupt something?”

Taehyun set his quill down once again before turning his body towards the blond. “Nothing important. What urgent matter brings you here?”

Truth be told, Taehyun never told Beomgyu what had happened to him regarding his punishment and he doesn’t plan on ever telling him. He just couldn't see it ending well for neither the faerie or the Captain. Besides, he was already well aware of Beomgyu’s strong detest for the faerie. Ever since Kai decided to play a little trick on him, Beomgyu grew a strong disliking for the young boy. However, he couldn’t blame him. Beomgyu had a reputation to maintain or more accurately, live up to.

“I heard that the King has made arrangements for a court meeting with the lords, dukes, and barons.”

Taehyun nodded in agreement. “The King wants to gain their support in hopes of garnering funds.”

“I knew it,” Beomgyu chuckled lowly and began pacing back and forth. His jaws were set and voice unwavering, “He seeks war.”

Taehyun threw him a stern look, lightly chastising him, “Don’t carelessly make baseless assumptions.”

“The King is rich beyond words, he’s practically swimming in gold. What more proof can we possibly need? War is a different situation. It’s well thought out. It’s organized. One needs money, weapons, _ men_. It’s takes careful military, stragetic planning and accurate calculations. Not even the King can manage all that by himself without seeking outside help.”

Taehyun remained quiet as he watched Beomgyu nervously gnawed at his lips in frustration and slowly start to lose his composure. Deep down, Taehyun knew he was right, but sometimes the hard truth can be too difficult to swallow upon first hearing. Witnessing the usually composed Captain unravel before his eyes made Taehyun realize the severity of the situation as reality hit him at full force. What they initially thought the King was up to may be even more serious than they originally thought. Taehyun was unsure about how to handle the current situation he found himself in as he’s never witnessed the Captain’s vulnerable side of him before. This was all unfamiliar territory for him.

Beomgyu decided to sit on the edge of Taehyun’s bed before speaking again, “We just need to stall for as long as we can. Hopefully by then, we’ll be prepared.”

“As much as I admire your blind optimism and determination, how exactly are we supposed to prevent this meeting?”

Beomgyu finally turned his head to look at the scholar boy. “That’s why I’m here to ask you.”

Rolling his eyes, Taehyun turned away from Beomgyu to sigh. After a moment of silently thinking, an unusual but not entirely impractical thought occurred to him.

“We can play our wildcard,” Taehyun suggested, catching the confusion on Beomgyu’s face.

“We don’t have a wildcard.”

Taehyun arched a brow at the blond and suddenly, Beomgyu immediately understood.

“No! We’re not associating ourselves with a faerie. The idea shouldn’t even be considered, it’s simply absurdity!”

“His involvement could be pivotal to our plan. You have to trust me.”

That’s when Beomgyu exploded.

  
“Must you be so naive?” He let out sharply and Taehyun had to recoil from the raw, harshness of his voice. As soon as the words left his mouth, Beomgyu’s eyes immediately softened and he regretted raising his voice almost instantly after seeing the flash of hurt crossed Taehyun’s face. Beomgyu never got the chance to apologize as Taehyun never gave him the chance to.

“You really dislike him that much, don’t you?”

Beomgyu said nothing. After a silent minute had gone by, Taehyun sighed and got up from his chair to sit shoulder to shoulder with Beomgyu, dipping the mattress further down from the combination of both their weights together.  
  


“I take it. Your mother heard about the incident that happened out on the training ground.”

The Captain kept his eyes down, looking at his feet and muttering lowly, “News travels like wildfire like they always do,” he said dryly. “She thinks I’ve been slacking off with my training.”

“Your mother is an unreasonable, despicable woman. She’s simply a different breed,” Taehyun stated with cold, brute honesty and Beomgyu cracked the tiniest smile at that.

“If only mother could hear you.”

“As if she hears anything else besides the sound of her own voice.” Beomgyu bumped his shoulder with Taehyun’s lightly as the scholar reciprocated his same action. “Besides, she never really liked me,” Taehyun added.

“Did she ever liked anyone?”

Taehyun hummed in contemplation. “I could’ve sworn she fancied Yeonjun hyung for a week when she first saw him,” Taehyun answered and Beomgyu gasped loudly, finally turning his head to look at Taehyun with a look between shock and disbelief, amusement clearly dancing in his eyes.

“Oh, _ gross _, Taehyun! You could’ve spared me that horrendous image in my head!”

The two boys shared a small, relieved smile on their faces as they both felt the previous heavy tension dissipated around them. The room soon fell into a comfortable silence as the boys relaxed in each other’s company and felt like they could finally _breathe _again_._

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

It was around noon when Beomgyu was making his way to his office. The halls were empty as a vast silence fell upon the corridors. With the absent of any guards around, it was easy for Beomgyu to get distracted by the endless stream of worries, doubts, and concerns that consumed his head. 

Had Beomgyu not been so distracted by his thoughts, he would’ve noticed his mother approaching him from the other side of the hall. When he finally turned his head up, he immediately locked eyes with the woman and halted in his steps. Beomgyu opened his mouth to speak but was cut off abruptly.

“I heard about what happened,” she said, getting straight to the point.

Beomgyu knew that she was referring to the day he tripped and lost his first match after a long time. “Mother, I—“

Her reply came almost instantly, “I didn’t ask for an excuse, dear.”

Beomgyu let his eyes fall shut for a moment before opening them back up again to stare at his mother with an even look.

“I’ve had you trained under the King’s care and given up everything for you to be here, have I not?”

“Aye, you have,” Beomgyu replied almost robotically.

And have I not taken great measures to assure that you don’t end up like some lowlife peasant—a piteous beggar?”

“You have.”

“Then why am I not satisfied with you yet? Is shaming our family name and labeling our house as a symbol of disappointment your only way of repaying me and your father back? Mercy, have you no shame on yourself—shame at all? Shame on me?”

“Mother—“

“_Don’t _ call me that,” she snapped at him, leaving a hard edge to her voice.

“If you would—“

Her hand came up too fast for Beomgyu to even process what was going on before he already felt the tight sting on his left cheek, taking him by slight surprise.

“I’ll have no tolerance for your lack of self-value and self-worth no more.”

Hands clenched by his side, he tried to speak, “But mother—“

Beomgyu saw her hand flew up again but did nothing to stop it or attempt to avoid it as he waited for the sting to return back to his already throbbing, red cheek. Beomgyu closed his eyes, waiting for the impact of when his mother’s hand would meet his face when the hand suddenly froze in midair and a voice interrupted them.

“May I be so rude to impose in your delightful conversation?”

Beomgyu turned his head over his shoulder to find that the faerie stood behind him. Kai watched them with the same unreadable expression on his face, looking almost bored but Beomgyu could never be sure what the faerie was feeling. Beomgyu immediately hardened his expression at him.

“Why are you carelessly roaming around the halls?”

“Are the halls only meant for you humans to use? Is there a separate path for faeries to take that I haven’t been made aware of?” Kai snapped back at the Captain with just as much fervor.

Beomgyu glared openly at Kai. “Get where you’re supposed to be at.”

Upon realizing who he was, Beomgyu’s mother immediately stiffened at the sight of Kai. Ignoring the blond, Kai turned his attention away from Beomgyu to look at the middle-age woman. 

“I’m sure you, too, have somewhere to be, madam. Shall you take your leave, now?” Kai said with a false smile on his face.

Beomgyu looked between the faerie and his mother. The air was thick with tension and Beomgyu noticed there was an insidious expression on Kai’s face that made him slightly uneased. Keeping quiet, Beomgyu watched them with anticipation.

Beomgyu’s mother looked Kai up and down, not bothering to keep the obvious disgust from her eyes before speaking, “I think I’m fine right where I am.”

With a smile that didn’t quite seem to reach his eyes, Kai said, “I highly suggest you reevaluate your options again.”

“Or what?” she challenged boldly but failed to keep her voice from wavering slightly. “You’ll kill me?”

Kai’s eyes seemed to narrow only slightly but more in irritation rather than being provoked. “Don’t you know there are things far more worse than death?”

The woman’s face immediately paled and Kai had to restrain himself from bursting out laughing. Beomgyu watched silently with mild surprise at the reaction of his mother being confronted with a faerie. He’s never seen his mother look so defenseless, showing her state of vulnerability. It was amusing to say the least.

Turning her attention away from Kai rigidly to look at her son, she said, “Your father will attend the meeting with the Royal Court. I expect you to be on your best behavior.” And then she was walking away without turning her head back at them once. 

As soon as the woman was gone, Kai turned his head back to face the blond. “Your mother seems lovely.”

Beomgyu did nothing to entertain him with an answer and instead, turned his back around to walk away, leaving Kai isolated in the corridor.

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

The doors to the library opened and Kai rushed in immediately looking for the scholar boy. He found him again in the back of the library, head already delved inside of a book.

“You’re late,” was all Taehyun said to acknowledge his presence.

“Haven’t you ever heard of time being a human construct? 

Keeping his eyes still glued to his book, Taehyun sighed nonchalantly, “I envy your lack of care for punctuality.”

Kai grinned at the shorter boy and picked up, _ Mountain of Deception _, he recently finished reading from off the table.

Holding the narrative novel in one hand, Kai said, “I’ve finished with this book and I couldn’t help but notice one particularly concerning detail about it.”

“What is it?”

“Nothing unusual besides for the fact that a character gets his arm bitten off and eventually bleed himself to death.”

“Well, that’s not anything to be surprised about. He’s human after all.”

“How do you expect me to defeat a colossal-size dragon?”

“You’re a faerie. You have magic. Surely you can figure the rest out, no?”

Kai let a short silence hung in the air between them before hesitatingly admitting, “There is a limit to how much magic I can summon without exerting myself. ”

Taehyun raised a brow up at the faeire’s confession. “Aren’t you faeries as powerful as the faerie queen?”

“There must’ve been a mix of misinformation if that’s what all you humans think.”

Kai could tell that Taehyun was still wary of him. Taehyun didn’t seem to trust him. Kai didn’t blame him, though. He wouldn’t trust himself either. Finally looking up from his book to stare directly at the faerie, Taehyun regarded the taller boy in a dubious manner.

“I’m afraid you’ve chosen the wrong person for this job, Kang Taehyun.”

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

A far-distant sounding bell rung from afar, indicating sundown has arrived and Taehyun gasped softly to himself, almost forgetting. He closed the book he was reading and quickly stood up from his seat.

“We have to go.”

Kai looked up from his book to see that the scholar seemed to have taken on a more tense and nervous aura than his usual calm and collected one.  
  


“Where to?”

Taehyun was already making his way towards the door, not waiting for the faerie to follow along. Deciding that he didn’t want to be stuck in the library for another grueling hour, he got up from his chair and went to quickly catch up with the shorter boy. 

Falling into his steps, Kai asked, “What exciting adventure awaits us this time, Taehyun?” When Kai turned his head to look at Taehyun, he saw the serious expression that always seemed to be permanently stained on the scholar's face.

“This is not some sort of field trip, you fiend. Today, a meeting with the Royal Court is to take place and—” 

Kai lifted a brow when he noticed how Taehyun paused unnaturally in the middle of his sentence.

“And?”

“And if you assist me with a task, I’ll help train you with your powers,” Taehyun offered almost reluctantly. 

Kai’s face lightened up instantly and a slow smile spread across his face. 

“I’m liking the progress in our relationship so far.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself. I’m simply making use out of you.”

“What specifically do you want me to do?

“Prevent the meeting from taking place, obviously.”

“Ambitious. I like it.” Kai shared openly. “Would it be easier if I...”

When the faerie never finished his sentence, Taehyun twisted his head to look at him.

“What?”

“You know…” Kai slid his thumb across his neck in a swift motion and Taehyun immediately widened his eyes in understanding.

“No!”

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

After hearing the evening bell ring from the bell tower, Beomgyu immediately began making his way to find Taehyun. They needed to stop the meeting with the Royal Court from happening and there was still no words from the scholar, yet. 

As he turned another corner, he saw who he was looking for but immediately frowned when he saw who accompanied him. Once he reached them, he immediately questioned, “Why is he here?”

“I already told you. He’s going to help us,” Taehyun answered.

Beomgyu knew they didn’t have much time before the members of the Royal Court would soon be arriving. The time was ticking and he didn’t want to waste any precious seconds they barely had to spare.

So, instead of arguing rather uselessly, he said, “Does he even have a plan?”

Rather than answering him, Taehyun glanced at the faerie whose eyes glimmered with a familiar sense of mischief.

“How far is the nearest farm?” the faerie asked with a glint in his eyes.

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

The day was soon approaching its demise as the sun was beginning to set. Soobin was on his way to a meeting with the Royal Court his father had set up that he had only recently been informed of. His only instruction was for him to show up on time and Soobin, not wanting to anger his father, made sure not to arrive late. As he turned the corner, now entering the Great Hall, he almost collided into someone.

“Yeonjun hyung?” Soobin looked surprised to see the older and his attention was immediately drawn to the older’s bloodshot eyes that were surounded with dark circles. “What are you doing here?” 

“Your father requested my presense with the Royal Court,” the silver-haired replied. “You know I can’t refuse him.”

“You look a lot more tired than usual, hyung. Are you sure you—”

Before Soobin could get to finish what he was going to say, sets of footsteps approached from behind him without warning and Soobin turned around to see that the dukes, lords, and barons had finally arrived and were walking towards them. Soobin waited until they stopped in front of him before bowing in greeting. Just as he was about to open his mouth to speak, his eyes widened slightly and he froze. 

Strange looks were plastered on the faces of the members of the Royal Court, even one of the dukes voiced his concerns, “Your Highness? Is something the matter?”

Soobin didn’t seem to hear him and Yeonjun nudged him lightly with his arm.

“Soobin. What’s wron—”

Yeonjun never got to finish his sentence as he finally noticed what had Soobin so distracted.

“Is that…” Soobin whispered quietly next to Yeonjun, face twisting in confusion.

“Why is there…” Yeonjun trailed on but was interrupted when suddenly, herds, literally herds of animals began pouring into the Great Hall. The members of the Royal Court finally noticed what was going on and all of them became alarmed at the unexpected scene.

There were animals ranging from sheep to cattle, to horses. Even pigs, chickens, and flocks of geese were running around wildly, seeming to be under a rampage.

“Why are there farm animals inside the castle!” Soobin exploded.

Soobin and Yeonjun were trying their best to get the odd situation they found themselves in under control, but their efforts were easily made futile. The members of the Royal Court expectedly did not reacted well and began to flee out of the coridor. Eventually, all the members had run away, leaving Soobin and Yeonjun to essentially cleaned up the mess themselves. 

Looking wildly and distressful at the berserk animals around them, Soobin looked up and saw three people he never would’ve expected to see together stood ontop of the indoor balcony. Yeonjun followed his line of sight and looked up to see Beomgyu, Taehyun, and Kai standing besides each other, staring down upon them and witnessing the literal madness that was happening below them.

A wide smile spread across Taehyun’s face while the Captain and the faerie were giggling uncontrollably. Beomgyu was the first to notice that they’ve been spotted by the older boys and he quickly turned to leave the balcony they were standing on with Taehyun and Kai quickly following along behind him, scuttering away like little, mischievous children.

A look of annoyance was still plastered on the Prince’s face as he looked back at Yeonjun who shared the same confused look with him.

_What the hell was going on?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I originally was going to add more to this chapter but decided at last minute just to save it for the next chapter bc I really wanted to get an update out asap. Also, what's going to happen in the next chapter will get a little more heavy compared to this chapter, so that's why I also decided it's prob best that I ended the chapter like this.
> 
> Not that it's anything big, but as I was writing the last scene, I realized that this is the first time all five of the boys has actually been in the same room together...essentially. idk, that little detail just makes me warm and fuzzy inside and I thought it was pretty wholesome. Weirdly. Thank you for reading! <333


	12. Frivolous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The clock is ticking...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yaaay, another chapter! As Christmas is quickly approaching the time I am writing this, I thought I should gift you guys with another update! As this present is for you, I hope you enjoy this chapter and may you have a very, very magical Christmas~  
ヽ(＾Д＾)ﾉ

Beomgyu could feel the cold bite at him from all sides as he stood watch on the terrace of the castle. The night seemed to be growing colder and colder as winter neared and the young Captain regretted wearing such thin outerwears tonight. The silence of the night was broken when a voice appeared behind him.

“Finally playing nice with the faerie, are you? I’ve never imagined you’d actually end up being friends with him.”

Beomgyu laughed bitterly. “Don’t be mistaken, hyung. We’re not friends.”

Yeonjun nodded, deliberating this, before going to stand beside the Captain. After a beat of silence, he said, “That was a nice stunt you and your friends pulled, by the way.”

Beomgyu turned his head at the older and arched one brow up, feigning innocence. “Stunt?”

Suddenly, Yeonjun’s voice went cold, demeanor turning serious. “Let’s not pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about,” he said, wasting no time getting straight to the point. “Whatever you’re planning, it’s best you stop now, while it’s still early. If you or Taehyun get caught into something you can’t get yourself out of, it’s not guaranteed that I’ll be there to save you guys.”

Beomgyu turned his head away from the older before speaking, “You don’t have to pretend like we don’t already know your loyalty lies with the King.”

“My loyalty lies with this kingdom and its people.”

“Your loyalty lies wherever it suits you best.”

Yeonjun let the silence hung in the air between them, allowing the words to register in his head. His eyes looked out across the kingdom, seeming far and distant. He contemplated his next words before replying back to the blond.

“And is that such a bad thing?”

Beomgyu stood still, eyes focused on the view across from him as he thought about his answer. 

“Depends whose side you’re on, hyung.”

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

  
  
In the middle of the cold, lonely night, Kai found himself awake sitting on the windowsill with a book splayed across his lap. He’d been memorizing hieroglyphics on the pages, tracing each symbol carefully with his slender fingers, when he suddenly grew bored and opted to search for another source of entertainment elsewhere by glancing outside his window. 

Kai had his window slightly opened, allowing for the chilly air to seep into his room and cover his body with a blanket of cold numbness. He finally concluded that the scenery was much nicer at night where it almost seemed as if the whole world was asleep. As if a switch had been turned off and all the chaos and horrors of the world had finally paused for just a short period, creating the false promise of peace and serenity in its wake. Like everything will be okay with the gentle breezes of the wind and the moonlight that embraced his face.

He felt cold. From his face all the way down to the tip of his toes, all he felt was cold. He would’ve moved away—probably would’ve dived back under the warmth of his sheets and allow his mind to fade away into another dreamless sleep—if he didn’t _ need _ this. 

But he needed this. 

On some nights when he'd used to live in his old, small shack with Jimin, he’d wake in a cold sweat and no matter how hard he’d tried to will himself back to sleep, his effort was always put in vain. And on those nights, he’d laid on his thin, worned-out mattress, staring out his window at the starless sky and finding comfort in the darkness of the empty night that all too similarly reflected what he felt, or more accurately, didn’t feel inside.

Sometimes, he’d find himself eventually falling back to sleep while on more unfortunate nights, he’d stay awake with nothing but deafening silence filling up the space providing him company throughout the night. And that’s what he did. He doesn’t think about anything or anyone, he just…stares. He stared mindlessly until he’d lost himself in a void, unaware of his surroundings.

He'd been staring out his window for quite awhile now, losing track of the time, when his door opened carefully. Kai never turned his head away from the window. “I don’t take visitors at this time of night. Come again another time.”

“Oh,” Kai heard a soft voice spoke. “I didn’t think you’d be awake.”

Kai turned his head to look at the Prince. “If you expected me to be asleep, then what exactly were you planning to do when you stepped into this room?”

Soobin’s face flushed as he forced out a stuttered reply. “I-I wanted to—I was just c-checking up on you, of course. I wasn’t going to—I never intended to—”

“You’ve already shown up uninvited, you might as well close the door," he told the older. "You’re letting all the cold air in.”

“Your window is opened,” Soobin pointed out.

“I don’t remember asking for your observation,” Kai said with a hint of tiredness in his voice.

Instead of replying back, Soobin took to closing the door behind him shut before returning his attention back to the young boy in front of him. Walking farther into the room, Soobin sat himself on the edge of Kai’s bed and used the rare opportunity to stare him down, taking in every inch of his pale skin shamelessly. He couldn’t help but stare at his face, starting from the bottom-up. Unlike his usual appearance, his lips were pale, eyes sunken, and hair unkempt. 

Even if the faerie usually bared little to no emotions on his face whatsoever, there was still always a hint of warmth and life to his face that grabbed Soobin’s attention immediately whenever he’d see him from across the corridor, or when he found him silently reading in the library with Taehyun, or even when it was just the two of them alone together, like this. 

But this time, Soobin couldn’t help but sense that something was off. He felt as if there was an invisible barrier between them, preventing one side from reaching the other. He thought he had everything in control. He thought he had all, if not, most of the answers. But the truth was that he had no idea who Kai really is. 

And that terrified him more than anything.

“Thank you,” Soobin said, being the first to break the silence.

“You’re welcome,” Kai said without missing a beat.

Soobin looked at him incredulously. “I haven’t even explain why I’m thanking you.”

“I know. I just like hearing you say ‘thank you’ to me.”

Soobin shook his head at the boy’s honesty. “You’re truly something else.”

“You’re not too far off with that statement,” the younger boy said, voice almost reduced down to a whisper, sounding distant and far off. However, Soobin didn’t catch what he said clearly but decided to ignore it. 

“I’m thanking you for healing Taehyun’s back. He may not show it, but he’s touched. More than you’d think,” he explained. “I know you didn’t have to do it. After all, you are forced here against your will, which is entirely my fault, but my point is that I don’t want you to mistake some people here for the bad guys. Some of them may not look it at first, but their hearts are made of pure gold.”

Kai finally peeled his eyes away from the window to look directly at the Prince. “I’m not here to make friends,” he stated sharply. “I healed his injuries because he didn’t deserve what happened to him.”  


Soobin found himself unable to speak. The way the moonlight shone through the window, gently caressing the younger boy’s face was enough to steal Soobin’s breath away for a second. 

An icy wind blew into the room and Soobin shuddered slightly before asking, “Do you really mean what you say?”

Kai never took his eyes away from the Prince. “I’ve never said something just to say something.”

Soobin held Kai’s stare as he contemplated the faerie's words for a minute in his head. 

“You were right, by the way,” Soobin said after a moment of silence.

“Do tell more.”

Soobin took a deep breath, taking a quick glance around the room, looking anywhere else _ but _ at the faerie before finally fixing his stare back on him. “What happened with Taehyun—I didn’t expect father would be so... _ harsh _. And I-I…” Soobin swallowed before confessing softly, “I think my whole life has been a lie,” he said, voice wavering. 

Kai blinked slowly.

Soobin suddenly averted his gaze away from the faerie. “I genuinely believed father was..._ good _ . I believed my whole life that he was so big and strong, no one could hurt him because he was the good guy.” Soobin laughed bitterly to himself. “Or at least he was supposed to be. Before my mother died when I was little, I was taught that the world is full of... _ goodness _.”

Kai waited silently for the older to continued but he never did. He eventually realized that the Prince was clearly in a frail state and he thought that he was the last person the Prince would ever be having this conversation with. 

The Prince was on the verge of falling apart right before his eyes and as he continued staring at him blankly, the sound of water filling his ears returned almost instantly. He was about to turn his head away to look out the window, when—

“Kai,” his name fell out of the Prince’s mouth, barely above an audible whisper. He didn’t say it as if he was asking a question, but rather as if he was testing his name out on his lips. Like saying his name would simply bring him the slightest comfort that he soul-achingly seeked.

“My mother died, too.” Kai blurted out, barely noticing the water that no longer seemed to filled his ears. “When I was young.”

Soobin faced his attention back onto the faerie. Again, Soobin felt like something was different—a shift in the air—but it was a _ good _ different. Then, as if a bolt of lightning had struck him, he realized that the faerie had just openly shared a piece of himself. He was opening up to him and Soobin’s heart warmed at the realization.

After a beat of silence, “Do you remember her?”

“Not really, I don’t think,” Kai admitted.

  
"Yeah, neither do I."  
  


Neither of the two boys said anything else after that as any further words that could be said didn't feel necessary to them. With the moon as their witness, having each other's company was enough to temporarily fill up the gap in their hearts.

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

In the next day, after Kai had finished with work in the kitchen (not to mention he was even beginning to become friends with some of the maids and servants as they no longer saw him as a threat), he was heading for the main library when he saw Taehyun turned the corner into the corridor he was in and quickly snatched his wrist, dragging him to the east wing of the castle, to which the faerie quickly observed. Once they made it to the other side of the castle, Taehyun quickly pushed opened a door and shoved Kai into the room lightly (or at least as lightly as he thought he did).

When Kai's eyes quickly scanned over the room, he turned around to ask the scholar, "Where are we?"

"My chamber," Taehyun answered absentmindedly as he walked over to his desk to dig through his drawer as if he was looking for something. "Aha," the scholar said once he finally found what he was looking for. He turned back around to face the faerie with something that looked to be a leather journal in his hand.

Opening the journal, Taehyun said, “I’ve prepared some questions.”

“You’re giving me a test? I haven’t even finished all my readings, yet.”

Lifting his head up to give the faerie a look which Kai patently ignored, he clarified, “No, this is not a test. It’s to help me know more about your powers so that I can get a good idea about what area we should start with concerning your training,” Taehyun explained. “Let’s begin. What are you capable of doing with your magic?”

Kai took a moment to think. “Transfiguration.”

_ He then unclenched his fist and the small mist had dispersed and a little, black raven was replaced in the air. Jimin immediately flapped his new feathered wings and circled around Kai twice before landing on his shoulder. _

“Telepathy.”

_ “Come out,” he demanded. _

_ As if drawn from some sort of magical spell, a small creature walked out of the dark, revealing itself. There stood a brown-greyish rat, staring up at the faerie with its black, beady eyes. _

_ Kai lifted the corner of his lips in a tiny smirk, muttering to himself, “I knew it.” _

_ The rat dipped its head to the side, peering back at the boy with a curious gaze. _

_ “There’s more of you, aren’t there?” Kai asked his new, furry friend. The rat chirped in reply causing Kai’s grin to only broaden. _

_ “Will you help me?” _

“Telekinesis.”

_ He ducked down to avoid a blow to his head and when he stood back up in his standard position to deliver a draw cut at his opponent, his foot slipped and he went immediately crashing to the ground, landing harshly on his back. The slip was so sudden and so unexpected that it took Beomgyu from surprise. Before he knew it, a sword was pointed directly to his throat, officially declaring the match over. _

“Spell Casting.”

_ “You’re going to hate me a lot more for what I’m about to do.” _

_ At that, Taehyun snapped his head up immediately to look at the faerie, eyes narrowed in warning. _

_ “What?” _

_ Before Taehyun had time to blink or shout for the guards, Kai brought his hand in the air and casted the scholar to sleep with a quick wave of his hand and Taehyun collapsed with his upper body laying limply on the table. _

Taehyun glared openly at the faerie at the memory.

“And healing,” Kai listed lastly.

_ Remembering that he had to hurry up before someone could walk in on him, he placed both his hands over Taehyun’s back and waited. Although there were an overwhelming amount of cuts all over his back, he tried his best to concentrate on each and every wound. _

_ After closing up the last few wounds on Taehyun’s back, Kai worked on putting the shirt over the scholar’s head, arms through the sleeves, and eventually over his torso. He didn’t bother wrapping the bandage back around him. _

After writing something in his journal, Taehyun asked, “That’s all the magic you're capable of?”

“That’s all I’ve ever been taught.”

“And who exactly taught you?”

“My mother,” Kai answered honestly.

Taehyun sighed before scribbling something else in his journal.

“From what I’ve gathered so far, your magic is useless to use against a dragon.”

“Well, I’ve never planned on slaying a dragon before until only recently.”

Taehyun ignored him as he continued writing in his journal. “What about fire? Can’t you summon fire?”

Kai opened his hand as if he was holding an imaginary apple and a green flame appeared on his palm small, but bright.

“That’s great. Now shoot it.”

“I can’t.”

“What do you mean ‘you can’t’? Just shoot fire out of your hands.”

“I’ve never done that before,” the taller said simply. And it was true. His mother never lived long enough to teach him about all the possibilities he was capable of with his magic and Jimin strictly forbidden him from using any sort of magic in their shack.

Taehyun rubbed at his temple and screwed his eyes shut. At the pace they were going in, it was clear to him that they were going to need some additional help.

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

  
  
After telling the guards that he was taking the faerie to the library to do some more studying (to which Kai not-so-helpfully commented about being courted), Taehyun made a quick detour on their trip when there were no guards around and headed for the Captain’s office instead. After informing Beomgyu about their little deal, Beomgyu reluctantly, but eventually, lead them to an abandoned training room that looked as if it could passed off as a storage room more than an actual place to properly trained.

With his hands extended out in front of him, Kai focused on harnessing all his magic into his hands and began to feel the center of his palms grow warm. When he thought he had willed enough magic, he pushed the magic out of hands and a shot of fire flew out from his palms. Although Kai had his hands targeted at the wooden dummy in front of him, the fire that emitted from his hands failed to travel far as it had more so jumped out from his palms and landed an underwhelmingly short distance in front of him, quickly diminishing when it hit the ground.

Beomgyu turned his head to look at Taehyun with a look that conveyed all that he was feeling. “He might just be the worst faerie this world has ever seen.”

“With a little more time and practice, he’ll be fine,” Taehyun tried to assure the Captain.

“In case you have forgotten, winter is approaching fast, which means Soobin’s birthday is nearing close. His curse is only weeks away.”

“That’s why I came to you because I know you can help him—help _ me _.” Taehyun looked at him with his big, round, innocent eyes and Beomgyu knew he should’ve looked away as soon as he saw his face softened—as soon as he heard the desperate plea in his voice, but it was already too late for that, for he was a goner.

“Fine.”

Taehyun allowed himself a small smile.

As they continued watching the faerie attempt (but failing miserably) to shoot a successful blast of fire at the dummy, Beomgyu finally had it.

“Enough.”

Kai stopped. He’s breathing hard and his face is flushed with exertion.

“Like I’d told you before: focus on harnessing all your energy into your hands. When you start feeling the pressure, release the magic out while keeping your eyes and hands aimed at your target.”

Beads of sweat was starting to accumulate on his temples and Kai swiped at his forehead with the back of his wrist and tried again. With the green flame blazing hot in the center of his palms, Kai could hear the crackles start to emit from his hands as he thrusted his open palms outwards. Only a tiny spark shot out.

It was silent.

Taehyun looked at Kai’s exhausted form, seemingly to be at his limit. He turned his head to the blond whose face as hard as stone never faltered in the slightest. 

“Maybe we should take a break,” Taehyun suggested.

“No,” Beomgyu’s reply came out hard and stern.

Taehyun tried to convince again, persistent, “There’s a difference between pushing him to his limits and pushing him _ past _ his limits.”

“He is _ weak_,” Beomgyu snapped at him. “He is nothing but a self-absorbed, incapable, useless _ brat _ who would be better off thrown into the dungeon, or better yet, executed by the King himself, just like how he ruthlessly and so easily killed the faerie qu-” Beomgyu never got to finish his sentence as he was completely knocked back and thrown off his feet by an enormous blast of fire that hit him straight at his chest.

“Beomgyu!” Taehyun quickly rushed over to Beomgyu’s side who laid sprawled out on the floor. The Captain groaned and coughed, gasping as he felt like all the air was sucked right out of his lungs.

When Taehyun deemed Beomgyu as uninjured, but still painfully hurt, Taehyun turned his head sharply to the faerie to yell about how he could’ve killed him when he froze.

Taehyun almost forgot how to breathe when he saw the sight of Kai being entirely engulfed in fire that burned bright emerald green. Taehyun saw how the faerie seemed to be panting, breathing harshly—not from exertion, but rather from...rage. Something about how the fire that loomed over Kai’s body frighteningly, meaning to intimidate and seeming to be getting ready to throw a far more lethal blast of fire at them made Taehyun snapped out of his trance, scattered up to his feet, and cautiously began making his way towards the faerie.

Noticing the absense of Taehyun by his side, Beomgyu looked up and saw that the scholar was carefully approaching the faerie. Beomgyu opened his mouth to shout at Taehyun to not get any closer when a sharp pain crossed him, forcing a pain-filled grunt out of his mouth.

Kai watched as the scholar neared him like how one would approach a frightened puppy and he felt the storm in him swirl harsher and more violently in his chest, begging to be released from the confinement of his ribcage. 

“Get. Out. Of. My. Way.” Kai gritted through his teeth at Taehyun who stood in Kai’s line of sight at the Captain.

Taehyun faltered in his steps just the slightest before willing himself to continue walking closer to the boy on fire. Literally. Every fiber, every cell inside of him was telling him to stop—yelling at him to run away and call for the guards, but he stubbornly ignored the sirens going off in his head and forced himself forward until he was standing right in front of the taller boy.

Tentatively, Taehyun raised his arms so that he could cup Kai’s face with both his hands. The fire did not burn or inflict any sort of harm on him in any way, but seemed to rather crawl and dance softly along his skin in a ticklish manner.

Kai stared into Taehyun’s big, gentle eyes and allowed the coolness of the scholar’s hands against his cheeks to embrace him with calmness and serenity as the wave of fury in his chest began to quickly diminish.

At last, Taehyun no longer saw the boy in front of him swallowed up by fire. Instead, all he saw was a boy who had lost his way and simply needed a little bit of guidance to help him stand back strong on his feet. He blinked his eyes a couple of times before finally speaking to the taller boy with a shaky voice. “I think I’ve figured it out, Kai,” he said to the younger, marveling in his revelation. “Your power comes from not strength, but of rage and grief,” he said to him as if he had solved all the mysteries in the world—as if he contained all the answers one could ever ask for.

He allowed himself a small smile.

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

Taehyun laid in his bed, staring blankly at his ceiling, not even bothering to change into his nightwear. If he closed his eyes, he could almost feel the fire dancing along his arms with gentleness, soothing his skin just like it had before when they were in the training room.

A set of knocks sounded from his door before it was opened. Taehyun lifted his head up just enough to see that it was Beomgyu who walked in, bearing an unreadable expression on his face. Taehyun disregarded it as the Captain being in his usual mood before getting up to sit properly on his bed.

“It’s almost midnight. Don’t you think it’s a bit late to indulge ourselves in a late-night conversation?”

Beomgyu said nothing and Taehyun noticed that the blond seemed to be restraining himself from saying something.

“What?” Taehyun said sharply when Beomgyu only received him in an unreadable look.

“That was the first time you’ve used his name,” Beomgyu gave Taehyun some time to absorb his words. To remember what had happened in the training room. “It’s usually faerie this, faerie that, but never his actual name.”

Beomgyu observed the scholar’s face and noticed that Taehyun seemed to be looking through him rather than at him, and that’s when Beomgyu’s face dropped.

“Oh, Taehyun, no…”

Taehyun looked at Beomgyu whose face reflected the same horror look that was plastered on his own.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


“You like him, don’t you?”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise this is a sookai fic, heheh (Ｔ▽Ｔ) 
> 
> (Also, if you haven't noticed yet, I've finally decided on the final pairings if you take a look at the relationship tags)
> 
> My updates might be a little slow as I'm always constantly editing my previous chapters. I kid u not, no matter how many times I've read them over again and again and again until I've become absolutely SICK of it, I'm always finding a mistake and/or something I could change or add to make it sound better. *sighs* (ಥ_ʖಥ) 
> 
> Thank you for reading and happy holidays! *muah*


	13. Enigma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmstillthinkingofasummarygivemeaminute

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, ummmm. Have you guys seen txt's cover of bts' BIL? Bc wheeeeeew. I couldn't stop shaking when I watched it and I'm still not over the shock every time I remember their performance. Everyone nailed their parts but let me tell you a little something about Yeonjun and Taehyun...I could cry when I remember their raps. The POWER the STAGE PRESENCE I just-😤The boys truly did the song justice and I just can't get over txt's cover of BIL. The fact that BIL is one of bts' most difficult choreo yet they executed it so flawlessly?? I'm seriously impressed.

Denial plays a funny role. No matter how clear an unwanted truth may appear in front of our faces or how obvious a fact may seem, we will unconsciously try to push it far away, in a dark, dusty corner somewhere in the back of our heads. It is usually our first reaction to the things we refuse to acknowledge or stubbornly try to ignore until the feeling slowly builds up inside of us and act as a constant reminder that we cannot escape from. But Taehyun was most definitely, most certainly _ not _ in denial, no.

He was drowning in it.

“No, no, no,” Taehyun repeated to Beomgyu but both boys could easily tell it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself.

“Tae-“

“Get out,” Taehyun deadpanned.

“What?”

Taehyun was out of his bed, pacing back and forth in distraught. “Get out, Beomgyu,” Taehyun said with his back faced towards him. 

“Wait, Tae-“

“_ Please _,” Taehyun’s voice cracked and that’s when Beomgyu pursed his lips in a tight line. He didn’t want to go—he didn’t want to be anywhere else but here right now, but he turned his back away with great reluctance and neared Taehyun’s door. When he paused at the door to see if Taehyun would change his mind and he didn’t, Beomgyu finally pulled opened the door and walked out of Taehyun’s room, leaving him alone to wallow in his panic and horror.

"Oh my god," Taehyun whispered to himself, voice quivering as his breathing quickened, chest beating wildly as he glanced around the room frantically. 

The room all of a sudden felt too big, air too dense, and his mind in a state of frenzy too loud.

His face crumpled as he realized for the first time that he had fallen for Kai. Taehyun was now breathing erratically, his chest aching with every breath he took as he slowly walked backwards until his back had met a wall and he slid slowly down to the floor. Panic soon evolved to sorrow and sorrow eventually morphed to anger as he pulled at his hair with both hands and yelled into the empty room.

Taehyun was not in denial. 

  
Taehyun was in shambles.

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

“Kai, before you leave, be a darling and fetch the eggs from the coop for me, will you?”

“I’m always a darling,” Kai said with a charming smile on his face before picking up a basket off the table and going out the back door.

The coop wasn’t that far away and Kai only had to walk for less than a mile before he could already hear the obnoxious sound of chickens croaking and screeching, and fanning their wings tirelessly. He was in the middle of collecting the eggs from the hens when he felt something wet licked at his ankle.

Looking down slowly, Kai saw that it was a furry, ginger-colored animal gently licking away at the skin of his ankles. Kai stared down at it, blinking his eyes at it slowly, uncertain about what he should do with the small, soft, furry creature when he looked up and saw a wild, hair-disheveled Prince running towards him at full speed.

“Sean!” the Prince called out.

Eventually the Prince came to a halt in front of him, hair sticking messily to his forehead and panting slightly. Once Soobin had caught his breath and gained composure of himself, a soft smile was displayed across his face as he witnessed the scene before him. “I see you’ve met Sean.”

“Sean?”

Soobin bent down to retrieve the furry thing off the ground. Cradling said furry thing up to his chest, Soobin introduced Kai to the ankle-loving animal, “My dog. Isn’t he cute?”

Kai took one look at Sean before deciding, “Hm, you’re right,” Kai said after a moment of speculating Sean. “He’s certainly cuter than its owner.”

A hint of a smile played at Soobin’s lips as he proceeded to scratch the back of Sean’s ear. “You can pet him, if you’d like.”

After a minute or so of deciding whether or not he wanted to touch the animal, Kai finally reached his hand out and hesitatingly placed his hand on the back of Sean’s head and ran his hand down along his back, repeating the same motion over and over again. Sean closed his eyes and nuzzled further into the crook of Soobin’s elbow.

Before he could back out, Soobin quickly took ahold of Kai’s hand and brought it to rest on top of Sean’s head. With his grip still around the younger’s hand, Soobin began to use Kai’s hand to pet softly at Sean’s head.

“He likes it when people pet him on the head, mostly,” Soobin explained quietly, afraid if he spoke louder he would scare off the boy.

Kai said nothing as he watched the affectionate animal grumble out a sound of pleasure.

Soobin glanced at the younger boy attentively. “Are your hands normally this cold?”

Kai shrugged his shoulders, too distracted by the softness of the creature’s fur to notice that the older’s hand was still around his. “Probably.”

Soobin smiled once more, looking back at the bundle of fur in his arm. Not being able to restrain himself, he lifted his head back up at Kai, focusing intently on the way his brows slightly furrowed in concentration. His eyes traveled from the roundness of his forehead all the way down to the slope of his nose, down to his even rounder cheeks, and even further down until they settled on his mouth that was curved ever so slightly into a smile that otherwise would’ve gone unnoticed by anyone that wasn’t paying close enough attention. Good thing he was.

Once again, Soobin found himself staring Kai down shamelessly and he should probably feel embarrassed but quite frankly, he didn’t. Kai had that kind of sensitive good looks about him that made it almost impossible for Soobin to take his eyes off of him.

“What?” Kai said after feeling the Prince’s intense stare on him.

“Nothing, I just...realized I’ve never really seen you smiled before.”

“Why? Do I look weird? Should I not smile anymore?” Kai said immediately.

“What? No!” Soobin said a bit too loudly and grew shy when he realized he had raised his voice. “...I think you look...I think you should smile more often.”

Kai stopped petting Sean, taking his attention off the animal to settle his eyes on the Prince’s face. Although Kai’s face remained stoic, Soobin could tell from the way Kai’s eyes stared deeply into his that there was a certain, mysterious, unknown depth that tugged away at his heart. Soobin averted his gaze away, shy now.

Kai returned his attention back to the small animal, scratching the creature below its chin and playing with its ears before sharing with the older, “There’s not a lot of things to smile about nowadays."

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

Perhaps it was the reality of his situation finally settling in and crashing down on him, but Kai came to realize an important possibility.

He was probably going to die.

“What are my chances of coming back alive?” Kai asked once he was finished with the last book he had to read.

“Well,” Taehyun looked up from his book, taking a minute to gather his thoughts. “There’s the dragon, then you have to enter the cave and delve inside the Mountain of Deception and defeat the Dark Mist. Not to mention that we have no idea what other dangerous creatures will be lurking about, nor do we have much of a clue what the Mystic Realm looks like so, I think your odds of surviving are looking good on all reasonable accounts.”

Kai stared blankly at the shorter boy. “...Any point in asking if you’d be interested in accompany me on my epic journey to inevitable death?”

“None.”

“Not even the slightest bit of interest?”

“None at all.”

Kai tilted his head, the smirk he was holding back blossoming onto his lips. “Come on, Taehyun,” he tried to coaxed. “Doesn't the idea of spending some quality time with me excites you?” 

“You’re a menace,” was all Taehyun said.

“But you like it, don’t you?”

Taehyun said nothing.

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

Beomgyu flopped tiredly onto the mattress, limbs laid sprawled out, taking up most of the space.

  
It was late at night and Taehyun was on the verge of sleep when he saw strands of blond hair next to him.  
  


“What are you doing here, Beomgyu?”

Beomgyu turned over to his side, resting his chin on his palm as he faced Taehyun. “It’s your turn.”

“My turn?”

Beomgyu rolled his eyes as he shifted himself up so that he could lay side by side with Taehyun on his rather large bed.

“Well, I’m normally the one doing the talking. I figured it’s about time you’ve gotten tired of hearing my voice.”

“But I like hearing you talk,” Taehyun mumbled almost inaudibly. 

“You fell asleep the last time I was talking to you about my day.”

Taehyun’s giggle was the only sound that filled up the quiet, dark room for a second. “But I _ do _ like hearing you talk.”

“Seriously, Taehyun,” the Captain’s voice was low now, conveying a sense of seriousness. “Talk to me.”

Taehyun stared up at the ceiling, hands clasped together and resting neatly on his abdomen. The only sound that could be heard now was the occasional shuffle of feet outside his door from guards walking past his room and the soft sound of Taehyun and Beomgyu’s breathing combined. It was silent for a long time before Taehyun finally spoke.

“I don’t know,” he sighed tiredly. “You’re usually good at this.”

After a while of even more silence, “Do you remember that time in the library?” Beomgyu asked. “When we first met?”

A loud laugh erupted from Taehyun’s chest. “That was ages ago, why are you bringing that up now?”

“Are you kidding me? It’s the best story in the entire kingdom. I love it when you tell it.”

Taehyun brought his hands up to cover his face, groaning, “You always make _ me _ tell it.”

Beomgyu turned his head at Taehyun. “Because I like hearing you talk,” he repeated the scholar’s own words back to him.

“Well,” Taehyun began, finally caving in. “I was shelving books in the library, and I happened to see this boy who obviously looked like he didn’t belong there.”

“Correct,” Beomgyu commentated.

“And so, I walked up to this little lost boy, when—“

_ “I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” A small boy shouted at a smaller boy. “I didn’t mean to punch you in the face, you scared me,” he was trying to explain to the brunette, but it was beginning to get difficult to see when tears started clouding his vision. _

_ “I’m really sorry,” the boy kept repeating over and over again, voice cracking and hiccuping in between his words. _

_ The brunette boy who was on the floor with a hand holding his freshly bruised cheek, stared at the boy kneeling across from him. As he continued to watched silently at the teary boy in front of him, the brunette started to wobble his lips as his eyes began to tear up, too. _

_ “You already said that,” the injured boy quietly said. _

_ “But I-I am s-s-s-“ the boy never got to finish his blubbering mess of a sentence as he suddenly erupted into tears, his face turning completely red. _

_ At seeing the sight of big fat tears rolling down the boy’s face, the smaller boy shouted at him in a state of panic, “Stop crying!” _

_ The boy only cried harder, shoulders shaking violently, which made the brunette finally break, his racking sob mixing with the other boy’s sob alongside him. _

“Stop laughing!” Taehyun yelled at Beomgyu who had his face buried into a pillow, trying to contain his laughter as best as possible, but the effort didn’t last very long.

“I still can’t believe you had the audacity to cry after punching me in the face,” Taehyun muttered bitterly.

“You startled me! Besides, _ I _ can't believe you actually yelled at me to stop crying.”

“You cried so loudly, it’s a miracle how I hadn’t gone deaf.”

“I was seven!”

“An obnoxiously loud seven-year-old.”

Beomgyu scoffed as the memory was still fresh in his head. “I think I’m still traumatized from that experience.” He turned back to face the scholar, any hint of playfulness wiped away from his face now. “You know, I really was sorry. I remember visiting the library everyday, but you kept running away from me.”

“I was busy. You were bothering me,” Taehyun stated simply, smiling lightly at the memory.

“That still kinda made me feel bad.”

Taehyun turned his head to look at Beomgyu when he detected the subtle hurt in his voice. Huffing, Taehyun sat up and scooted himself up until his back was against the wooden headboard of the bed frame.

“Okay, fine.”

Beomgyu looked up at Taehyun’s new position, clearly confused. “What?”

“You can hit me again. Just this once, though. And this time, I won’t scream at you.”

“Where?”

“In my face.”

“Are you serious?”

“Of course I am.”

Beomgyu stared blankly at Taehyun with an indecipherable look, a moment of utter silence engulfed the room before Beomgyu finally decided, “Well, if you say so. And remember...” he quickly said. "No regrets."

Taehyun was momentarily taken aback as he didn’t expect the blond to comply so easily as he was only half joking. But he closed his eyes anyways, waiting for the hit.

“Ready?” He heard the Captain say.

Taehyun nodded his head as he squeezed his eyes shut even tighter.

“Brace yourself, Taehyun.”

Hands balled at his sides, clenching the sheets tightly, Taehyun waited for the impact of a fist to hit his face. And it did. Kinda. Not really. A very soft impact hit him square on his cheek and Taehyun’s eyes immediately flew open as he saw the Captain’s face near his, planting his lips gently against the side of his face.

Beomgyu finally brought his face back to stare directly into Taehyun’s eyes, bringing a hand up to smooth the hair away from Taehyun’s forehead.

“You should just fall in love with me,” he said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I suck at writing fluff. it's already ch. 13 and there’s not even a kiss scene to be seen anywhere and the development is slow asf😭
> 
> Also, taegyu's cheek kiss scene is inspired from the manga, "daytime shooting star". Once again, another fabulous manga, great art, strong female lead, read it (only if you want🥺).


	14. Trouble Ensues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trying to deny one's feelings is like trying to stop the rain from falling. 
> 
> It's pointless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHH it's been forever I'm so sorry but I've been busy with school and haven't really been feeling well overall and kinda been distancing myself from social media and just overall socializing hahah. (It's a bad habit, I should rlly fix that). But during the period of time I've been away, I was able to finish watching the 2nd season of “You”, finished reading mdzs (and holy shit it's so fucking good, I could literally make a whole blog about this masterpiece) and I've also been stress-relieving by playing Minecraft with some friends, so pls don't worry too much about me, hehe. Without further ado, I hope u enjoy this chapter!
> 
> (also, I've taken inspiration from the manga "daytime shooting star" for this chapter)

“Did something happen?”

Kai could tell something was off about Taehyun today. Maybe it was the way Taehyun seemed to be glaring at the pages of his books rather than actually reading them, or the way Taehyun would occasionally get distracted and unconsciously drift his eyes elsewhere only to return back to glaring at his books, but something tells Kai that the scholar’s typical behavior was slightly...disrupted.

And Taehyun’s silence did nothing to subdue the faerie’s curiosity or suppress his impeccable persistence as Kai continued relentlessly to evoke an answer out of him. “Perhaps someone had angered you? Annoyed you?" Kai asked before quickly adding, "Preferably not me, I hope?”

“Not angry or annoyed, just troubled,” Taehyun answered honestly with a tired sigh before looking up at the faerie fixedly. “And surprisingly not because of you for a pleasant change.”

Taehyun wasn’t exactly sure why he was so easily sharing his feelings with the faerie, but he decided he was going to go along with it, because the world may as well just be coming to an end if the kingdom is on the brink of war, a faerie has captured his heart, and his best friend apparently has been in love with him for who-knows-long.

“Is it the stress from your duties as a scholar that’s been bothering you?”

“...”

“Hmm, not that? Or maybe the maid added a little too much salt in your food?”

Kai was continued to be ignored.

Suddenly, Kai’s face brightened up noticeably, lips curving upward almost uncontrollably. “Oh! I’ve got it.” With a grin plastered across his face, Kai slowly leaned over the table. “You’ve fallen in love,” he said slyly.

In an instant, anger, shock, and vexation all crossed Taehyun’s face at once. Taehyun snapped his head up immediately and harshly scolded, “Stop spouting nonsense at once.”

“Tell me about this lovely maiden of yours,” Kai simply ignored the scholar, pretending as if he didn’t hear anything. “Is she pretty? Smart? Of course, she must be if the one and only Great Kang Taehyun is this flustered.

Taehyun’s brow twitched. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but thought better of it and closed his mouth instead. With a slight shake of his head, Taehyun returned his attention back to his work. “Foolish,” Taehyun muttered under his breath.

“If not a pretty maiden, then it must be someone whom you’re fairly close with,” Kai wondered aloud, rubbing below his chin, thinking. “In my mind, I could only imagine that handsome, yet frigid Captain of yours. You guys seem really close. Surely, you must have finally come to realize you’ve been in love with him all this time.”

“I am not!” Taehyun shouted at him.

Satisfaction was plastered all over Kai’s face as he was no longer able to contain the grin on his mouth. “Yet, you never denied you were in love.”

A guarded look leaked from Taehyun’s eyes as he spoke in a voice filled with annoyance. “Talking to you is a waste of breath.”

Kai let out a hearty laugh, resting the side of his face on his palm as he continued staring at Taehyun from across the table. “For someone whose words are cloaked in lies, your face is endearingly honest.”

Without looking up, Taehyun could feel his heart beating erratically, seemingly as if it almost skipped a beat, and Taehyun said in an icy voice, but containing no venom in his words, “Shut up.”

Between juggling his suppressed feelings for Kai and coming across an unexpected revelation of Beomgyu’s hidden feelings for him, Taehyun was befuddled.

Taehyun knew it was strictly forbidden. A human falling in love with a faerie was simply unspeakable, it should never be considered, really. What’s more, Taehyun had never considered it. And he certainly wasn’t considering it now. Totally not.

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

“Give us the report on the recent rat infestation we’ve had,” the King ordered.

Soobin looked around the room filled with members of the High Court sitting around the long agarwood table. As the meeting proceeded, his eyes wandered around lazily, bored, until he stopped at Beomgyu who leveled his gaze with his, fixing Soobin a cool, knowing stare.

Beomgyu wanted to get out of this meeting as much as he did, too. However, at the same time, the Captain knew he needed to be here. He needed to confirm his suspicion of the King planning a war with whichever innocent, neighboring kingdom was next. 

“And what about the recent rallying against the King?” one of the men, a member of the court, asked. “It was reported that a mob was responsible for a series of arson attacks on four of our guard posts.”

“Needless to say, we punish whoever oppose the King to diminish this situation as fast as possbile,” another member declared. “The last thing we need is a rebellion against the kingdom on our hands.” 

Beomgyu noticed Yeonjun’s discreet glance in his direction and he shrugged off his stare.

“That would only spurred the general public further into retalliation. We don’t want to provoke them in fear of amplifying this situation any further.”

“And you’re suggesting we allow them to keep provoking the King instead? I will not stand to tolerate their new found passion to make a mockery out of our authority—out of our theocracy.”

_ Perhaps this theocracy is a mockery in itself, _Beomgyu thought to himself.

For a brief moment, the table exploded, gradually increasing the volume of their voices in an attempt to exert their dominance. The tension built up in the room was heightened to the max before the King finally spoke up, immediately silencing the table.

“Captain,” the King suddenly called out to the blond. “Give us your imput on this pressing matter.”

Beomgyu looked around the table feeling all eyes pierce through him as everyone’s attention was now focused in on him and what he would say.

Beomgyu focused on keeping his voice steady, making sure not to stutter or express hesistation in his words. “From what we know, the people are obviously displeased with the direction our kingdom has taken in,” he began carefully. “I think it’s only fair that we give them a voice. Let them speak out on their problems and concerns, or at the very least, have their voices be heard by someone who can represent their district.”

“The people will never be pleased with how much we give them!” one member of the court, a duke, stated harshly. “They will keep asking for more and more until there is nothing left to give. If everyone had power, this kingdom would fall apart.”

Beomgyu’s face turned cold as he compelled himself to restrain his hostility. “The kingdom is already falling apart as we speak, I’m not so sure I grasp the concept of your simpleminded thinking.”

Before the table could dive into another heated dispute, the King quickly interrupted, “And Yeonjun?” he turned his head to face the soldier standing close to his side. “What is your proposal?”

The table fell silent as all heads turned towards the silver-haired, awaiting his remarks. The soldier had been fairly quiet throughout the entire meeting and had not as much as utter a single word to contribute to the conversation. They eagerly waited for him to finally speak.

“They are dangerous,” Yeonjun stated first, immediately gaining nods of approval by some of the members of the court. “They will stop at nothing until they have seen that this kingdom has fallen to the ground.”

“And how do you know that?” Beomgyu couldn’t help but interrupt, mouth already opened to speak before he could stop himself.

Yeonjun turned his head at the Captain, a blank look on his face as he said, “I interrogated them.”

Beomgyu felt his heart skipped a beat, breath caught in his throat as he quickly said, “What have they answered?”

“Not much,” Yeonjun admitted before revealing, “Only that they have a leader.” 

Everyone stared among themselves upon hearing the words of the soldier. The King quirked a brow up as he squinted his eyes at Yeonjun in interest. “A leader, you say?”

“Yes, your Majesty. But they stubbornly refuse to give up a name.”

“So, what?” Boomgyu interrupted once more, already feeling his blood boiling in abhorrence. “You killed them?”

“Don’t be foolish, Beomgyu. You know I’d never do that,” Yeonjun lightly scolded him before replacing his frown with a coy smile. “ At least not until I’ve gotten an answer out of them.” 

Beomgyu didn’t bother holding back his obvious anger that was basically radiating off him like a permanent aura as he glared openly at the silver-haired. 

“But my prisoner wasn’t completely useless, you see. They did reveal something rather interesting,” Yeonjun icily continued.

Beomgyu’s voice cut through the air sharp like a knife, “What?”

“We have a traitor in this castle,” Yeonjun confessed calmly like he was already anticipating the calm before the storm. “Possibly more than one.” 

As soon as the possibility of a traitor being amongst them was mentioned, the members around the table boiled over, surging and chattering as names of potential traitors started to be thrown around. Beomgyu stopped himself from saying or doing anything stupid for fear of causing suspicion towards his way. His jaws were set tight and eyes hardened as he looked around the table of hectic, panicking middle-aged men.

“With that said, your Majesty. I think this time we take appropriate measures to ensure the stability of the kingdom,” a member’s voice interrupted. “We send more guards out to watch over each district of the kingdom. But most importantly, we send the people and the rebels a clear message of what happens to traitors," he said, not bothering to disguise his sinister tone. "Anyone who so much as speak ill of the King and criticize our authority will be executed without sentence.”

“This is outrageous, your Majesty. You can’t possibly be considering this,” Beomgyu turned his head towards the King, boring a hard, rigid look.

The King gave no answers to anyone, turning his head to instead direct his attention towards his son. “Soobin,” he said curtly.

Soobin jumped lightly from his seat and looked at his father, startled.

“It’s your call,” the King spoke. “Make the choice.”

Soobin still felt like he didn’t quite understand what his father asked him. “What?”

“_Soobin_,” the King’s voice dropped dangerously low, close to unleashing his contained impatience. “Make. The. Call.”

It was times like this where Soobin didn’t actually mind being hardly seen in the back, concealed in his father’s shadows. Of course that’s not to say that he was useless in meetings like these. Soobin always had answers and numerous, diverse ideas, and possible solutions, but rarely does any of them ever pleased his father. 

In times like this, Soobin knew exactly what game he was forced to play. He was familiar with this same routine. The King would make him believed he had a choice. But truth be told, he never really did. An answer would be on the tip of his tongue, but he knew what his father wanted him to say—expected him to say—what correct answer would immensely please his father to express pride and satisfaction Soobin rarely ever got to see in his eyes.

“I-” Soobin paused, feeling the King’s burning stare on him and his throat closed up unwillingly, preventing him from speaking.

Soobin thought back to the time he fearlessly marched from his chamber to the King’s throne to negotiate with his father in an attempt to convince the King in sparing Kai’s life. He thought back further to when he walked into his father’s private study room to confront him about his loyalty to his people. He thought back further to when he had first met the faerie, causing a chain reaction for all the events that had led up to now to follow. 

He knew what he needed to say.

“Twice a week,” the Prince suddenly said. Everyone silently looked at one another in confusion.

“What?”

“Twice a week, we set up a stall in the poorest parts of the kingdom to help feed the poor,” Soobin stated. “In return, we’ll also double the amount of guards stationed at each posts." Soobin added, feeling his hands trembled slightly in his laps. "In situations like this, it's best if we can first come to a peaceful negotiation before we make any rash decisions. A compromise, if you will."

For certain, not everyone was happy, but it was enough to keep the storm at bay. Seeing how no one was objecting, the King was forced to put Soobin's suggestion into action.

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

Rings of the belltower rung from afar, alerting Taehyun that they had to go. Taehyun didn’t bother telling Kai exactly where they were going as they continued walking through corridors, but Kai kept silent, letting the scholar drag him around the castle. Kai only grew more confused as he could’ve sworn that they had just passed through the same corridor twice. It was almost as if they were walking in circles.

At once, Kai understood. If someone was to ask for their location, the guards would all have a different answer to their whereabouts as they’d point in the wrong direction, leading them to the wrong place and making it troublesome to track them down. 

“Are you avoiding someone?” Kai finally spoke.

When Kai thought Taehyun wasn’t going to say anything, Taehyun spoke after a long pause, “More or less.”

“So you’re avoiding the Captain, then.” Kai more so stated rather than questioned.

Taehyun said nothing, his answer lying within his silence.

At last, they were finally finished with their numerous trips of walking in random directions around the castle and have stopped in front of Kai’s bedchamber. Walking in and closing the door, the boys walked further into the room. Taehyun took a seat at Kai’s desk while Kai watched Taehyun from his bed.

“Why are we in my room out of all the places?”

“This is the last place the Captain would want to be at. You are after all not exactly his favorite person in the world,” Taehyun answered and paused as if debating his next words before finally speaking, “But you mustn’t take it to heart. He’s always been so emotionally high-strung,” Taehyun explained tepidly without looking at him, busying himself by organizing and tidying the random papers, books, and junk that laid around Kai’s desk.

“It’s not like you to go out of your way to avoid someone because you like to play a game of hide n’ seek,” Kai said while stretching his limbs out on the bed. “You must fancy him a great deal.”

“As I mentioned before, I harbor no feelings for anyone.”

Kai fixed Taehyun a blatant stare before sighing, “You’re too prideful, Taehyun-ah. You can’t even be honest with someone you like.”

As Taehyun opened his mouth to answer him, the door suddenly swung open quite harshly, immediately demanding the attention of the two boys. Stood in the door frame was the Captain. His face held a faint hue of red and his breathing came out in short, irregular breaths. 

Not expecting the blond to find them so fast, Taehyun stared at Beomgyu with wide eyes, startled by his out-of-breath appearance. “Beomgyu?”

From his spot on the bed, Kai’s eyes darted between the Captain and Taehyun, and a smile found its way to his face. “Well, this is a very unexpected situation I never could’ve foresee coming. Am I that irresistible?” 

“Yes,” Beomgyu answered. “Your face is just too irresistible without feeling the indescribable urge of wanting to punch it.”

Kai frowned, disappointment evident in his voice, “I get the feeling you don’t like me very much.”

“Bold of you to assume I like you at all.”

Kai shrugged. “Fair enough.”

“Beomgyu, what are you doing here?” Taehyun interrupted.

Eyes immediately finding his, Beomgyu strided into the room with confident steps and stood in front of the scholar. “Taehyun. A word, if you may?” Beomgyu said, his forceful tone allowing no room for objections as he turned around to walk out the door.

Taehyun almost didn’t want to follow Beomgyu out of the room, having to force himself to even get up from his chair. Eventually, and hesitantly, Taehyun followed behind Beomgyu as he guided him through the corridors.

After finding a corridor that was isolated, allowing for privacy, Beomgyu stopped and spun on his heels to face Taehyun, fixing him with a hard look.

Taehyun stood rigidly, all words he was preparing himself to say now died in his throat as Beomgyu focused in on him with cold, unrelenting eyes. Taehyun had never experienced being in this kind of situation with Beomgyu before, it was only natural for the initial awkwardness that lingered between the two to amplify, creating a thick, almost-suffocating atmosphere.

“Why are you avoiding me? Beomgyu asked, wasting no time getting straight to the point. “Running away from your problems is not your style, Taehyun.” 

Taehyun kept silent against his better judgement. And it wasn’t like Taehyun had nothing to say. In fact, he had a lot he wanted to voice out to Beomgyu, but something about the way Beomgyu looked at him with a face full of disappointment and anger prevented Taehyun from speaking a word, agitating Beomgyu even further.

“If you didn’t feel the same way I do, you could’ve just said so. You didn’t have to go out of your way to purposely avoid me like the plague. If you had taken a second to consider how I felt, then maybe—” Beomgyu couldn’t stop once he opened his mouth. He continued venting out all his pent up anger and frustration on Taehyun, sometimes going in circles and repeating the same thing. He realized distantly in the back of his head that some of the things he was spouting out didn’t even make partially sense, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care as the words continued pouring out of his mouth ruthlessly like a thundering, pounding, boisterous waterfall, and Beomgyu could do nothing to stop it. 

When he felt exhaustion creeping up on him and his anger coming to an end, Beomgyu finished in a softer voice, but tone still harsh, “Being so selfish is incredibly unlike you, Taehyun.”

As soon as those words left his mouth, Beomgyu knew he fucked up when he saw Taehyun’s red eyes became clouded with tears. Taehyun looked down at his feet, trying his best to hide his face, ashamed. His lips wobbled unsteadily and his chest ached as he tried to hold his breath for fear that he’d burst into tears if he were to open his mouth.

“Sorry,” Taehyun mumbled in a small voice, hurt can clearly be heard with just the single word he uttered. “I’m sorry, hyung.” Taehyun couldn’t hold it in any longer as his chest rose at last, finally letting in oxygen into his lungs. Taehyun took the shakiest of breath Beomgyu had ever heard from him and Beomgyu felt his chest tightened painfully, breath catching in his throat.

Taehyun cried. 

Immediately, Beomgyu rushed to Taehyun, lifting his face so that he can look at him properly. Tears filled up Taehyun’s big, doe eyes, causing Beomgyu’s features to blend together in his blurred vision. 

Beomgyu quickly wiped away the tears that rolled down Taehyun’s cheeks with his thumbs. “Shit, I’m sorry, Taehyun. Don’t cry, baby.” Beomgyu continued repeating words of apologies to Taehyun, and brushing away tears from his face. Beomgyu began rubbing soothing circles on Taehyun’s cheeks with the pad of his thumbs, trying his best to comfort the shorter boy. No matter what Beomgyu did, little whimpers still fell out of Taehyun’s mouth and his shoulders only shook more violently with every breath he took. 

Beomgyu felt like someone had punched him straight in the guts when he looked at Taehyun’s face that was contorted up in so much pain and sorrow that was brought by him, making him want to beat himself up for ever yelling at Taehyun to begin with.

Beomgyu brought a hand up to sweep Taehyun’s hair away from his forehead so that his bangs wouldn't get in the way of him wiping at the corners of Taehyun’s eyes. “I’m sorry,” Beomgyu repeated in a soft voice, tone holding such tenderness. “I didn’t mean it. I didn’t mean anything that I said, I was just frustrated. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have taken it out on you, Taehyun. I’m sorry.”

No matter how much Taehyun read about love and the magic of yearning and passion for an intimate bond in books, Taehyun supposed it was inevitable. The worst part of it all was that he had to figure it out for himself the hard way, and Taehyun wanted to slap himself for foolishly forgetting.

A love where no one gets hurt does not exist.

_ And it probably never will _, Taehyun thought.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHHHHH 
> 
> Just a heads up, this week I have my finals so i'll definitely be busy and occupied with that. Therefore, I don't expect the next chapter to be out anytime soon this week and I hope u don't mind. 
> 
> And I've been holding this in for awhile and wasn't going to share it until I finished this fic, but... I've seriously been thinking of, dare I say it, abandoning this fic (omigod that hurts a lot more to admit than I expected). It's just that there has been so many times where I thought my writing isn't good enough and isn’t improving at all (even tho I am aware that my writing isn’t that good to begin with) and more times where I literally had to force myself to write, it was honestly, and pitifully, becoming painful to bear. But, I can't deny the joy I get whenever I'd finished writing a chapter. Not to mention reading ur guys' comments. But just to assure everyone and to clarify, I am NOT dropping this fic. I won't promise I'll finish it. But I can promise that I will sure as hell try my god damn hardest to.
> 
> ...lol okay enough with the serious stuff, but seriously, have u guys read MDZS? It is so good, it made me cry.


	15. Devil's Poison

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Home is where lost memories are forgotten.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAHHHHH i want to cry (ಥ﹏ಥ) This took a long time for me to upload like holy shit. When I said that the next chapter would take a little bit longer to come out, I didn't expect it to take THIS long. So, I apologize for the long wait. I don't really have a fixed schedule when I post so each chapter from here on out will take from a week to maybe at least a month for me to finish bc I am an irresponsible person with a bag full of responsibilities now thrusted to me ahahahaha the path to adulthood is all but lively! But I really do feel bad so I hope this chapter was worth the wait? Maybe? Maybe not? Also, this chapter will be undergoing proofreading bc I kinda rushed this so beware of any small mistakes u might find. Thank you and I hope you enjoy this chapter!! <333

Not soon after Taehyun and Beomgyu left did Kai get greeted with another unexpected visitor. Kai turned his head to see Soobin who had knocked before entering, throwing him a kind smile that did well to compliment his gentle eyes. And for some reason unbeknownst to him, Kai found Soobin’s soft, unwavering smile a sight quite pleasant rather than annoying. 

After all, it was nice to finally have someone smile at him in such a gentle manner when he’s usually only ever been met with cold glares and scowls and been thrown dirty looks as if he was nothing but just the mere dirt beneath people’s shoes. It was comforting to say the least. 

Although Soobin’s presence was not unwelcome, Kai wanted nothing more than to head off to sleep, but once his eyes caught hold of something in Soobin’s hands, the idea of sleep was quickly forgotten and thrown out the window.

He sat up a little straighter on his bed and squinted suspiciously at the Prince. “Why do I sense visiting me at ungodly hours is going to start becoming a habit of yours?”

A small laugh escaped Soobin, further widening his smile. “If it’s any consolation, I come bearing gifts.” Soobin held up a bottle that seemed to contain a dark kind of liquid in it, and he takes his other hand away from his back to reveal two goblets.

Making sure the door was shut closed behind him, Kai watched from his bed as Soobin stepped closer into the room. He placed the bottle of unknown liquid and goblets down on his desk, and before he could start to fill the goblets with the unknown content, Kai spoke.

“Is this your attempt at poisoning me?”

Soobin looked flabbergasted and Kai wanted to laugh at how animated the Prince’s face looked.

“No! Of course not!” Soobin immediately responded, almost sounding offended. Straightening his composure, Soobin explained, “I’ve just finished a meeting with the Royal Court and one of the members had gifted me a bottle of wine as an early birthday present. I thought it’d only be fair and courteous of me to share a drink or two with you.”

“Ah,” Kai said in understanding. “...so it is poison after all.”

Soobin scoffed, “You’ve really never tasted a lick of wine before in your life?” His tone was skeptical and once he saw the look on Kai’s face, Soobin immediately regretted his words.

Of course, wine was a luxury usually only accessible to wealthier people who can afford them. Meanwhile, others had to settle with ale, mead, or cider. The cost of a bottle of wine could feed an average-sized, poor family for a month!

Words failed to form in his head. Soobin looked away and narrowed his eyes at a wall, despising how, even after all this time, he still couldn’t say the right words in front of the younger.

“I’m sorry,” Soobin said upon realizing his mistake. And to his surprise, Kai looked away, eyes holding a familiar glint that made it look like he was trying to hold back a smile.

“At this point, there is no need for apologies between us. Don’t you agree?”

Soobin did not know what to say.

“Besides,” Kai continued on, already seeming bored with their previous conversation. “Isn’t alcohol known to be the devil’s drink?”

Soobin looked surprised as if not expecting the faerie to mention this. “...I supposed it is.”

“Then,” Kai turned to look back at the Prince, a hint of a smirk playing at the corner of his lips and the familiar sense of mischief crawling along Soobin’s spine whenever he saw that look on the faerie’s face arose. “Isn’t that even more reasons to indulge ourselves?”

Instead of answering, Soobin faced his body away to busy himself with the task of pouring wine into the goblets he brought with him. However, as his hand stretched forward to reach for a goblet, Kai’s voice stopped him.

“Wait,” he said solemnly.

Soobin paused his movement and angled his head slightly to look back at the faerie. “What’s the matter?”

Soobin noticed Kai eyeing the goblet he was about to reach out for and when he followed his gaze, he understood. Before Kai could say anything, Soobin breathed, “It is silver.”

Kai simply nodded. 

Picking up the two goblets, Soobin announced, “I’ll be back to exchange these with glass cups. I won’t be long.” And then he was out of the room before Kai could blink.

After waiting silently on his bed for three minutes, Kai’s patience finally (and unsuprisingly) ran out and he moved to get up. Walking towards his desk in a lazy manner, Kai reached out with a hand and snatched the bottle right off the desk. 

Kai weighed the bottle in his hand and lifted his brows, slightly impressed with its heavy weight. He turned the bottle around in his hand a couple of times, hearing the gentle sound of the liquid content sloshing around inside. 

Finally, Kai pulled the cork out of the top of the bottle and immediately, his nose was filled with an alluring, sweet, deep, and rich scent that made his mind go blank for a full second. Even more impressed with its promising aroma, Kai brought the bottle closer to his face so that he could have a proper whiff of the devastatingly sweet fragrance that clouded his mind (and better judgement). 

Then again, Kai had never been one to listen to his better judgement.

Thus, Kai raised the bottle to his mouth.

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

When Soobin had pushed open the doors to Kai’s bedchamber, he knew straight away that something did not feel right. And Kai’s unusual silence did little to make him think otherwise.

Immediately, a thought occurred to him and Soobin quickly rushed over to Kai’s desk to pick up the bottle of wine that felt significantly a lot less heavier in his hand than he last remembered. Soobin realized the bottle was empty.

Instantly going pale, Soobin snapped his head at Kai and looked at him with a frantic expression. “Kai?”

Hearing his name, Kai turned his head at once like an obedient puppy. “Hm?”

“Please do not tell me you drank all of the wine.”

Noticing the Prince’s unease, Kai did not want to worry the Prince any further, so he shook his head, reminding Soobin of a little kid lying about not stealing candy.

“Oh, this is bad.”

As Soobin stood there, half internally hyperventilating and half trying to keep his calm, Soobin turned around to head out the door once again to probably fetch a maid or Taehyun to watch over Kai. But, as he wrapped his hand around the doorknob and twisted the metal handle, he found that the door refused to even bulge an inch. He twisted the knob more desperately this time, but the result remained unchanged much to his dismay.

Soobin then turned his head to look at Kai who he suspected was the culprit behind the door being locked when he remembered not ever had locking the door. However, the faerie turned his head away at once, pretending to be preoccupied with staring at something else.

“Kai?" Soobin began cautiously. "Did you lock the door by any chance?”

After waiting for a response that never came, Kai acted like he hadn’t heard anything.

Soobin contemplated knocking on the door to draw the guards’ attention, but he refrained from doing so as he decided that it had best be kept that only a limited amount of people know that Kai was heavily intoxicated with enough alcohol that could potentially put a normal person under a coma. 

Soobin felt even more uneasy when he realized that he had no idea if the effects of alcohol differ between humans and faeries, or if there were any harmful side effects of faeries consuming a lethal amount of alcohol.

Shoving away all his worries down his throat, Soobin tried again to get Kai to speak.

“Can you help me open the door? It seems that it has been locked.”

Once again, Kai paid no heed to the Prince and his frivolous request, and he looked around his room with an expression that Soobin thought was an expression of boredom and disinterest.

Soobin looked at Kai amusingly and unbelievingly. With a sigh, Soobin finally decided to wait until Kai had fallen asleep. In the meantime, though, Soobin would look after Kai and make sure he was okay and wouldn't choke on his own vomit if the alcohol ended up coming back out.

He strided over towards Kai's desk once again and was about to take a seat on the wooden chair when Kai finally opened his mouth to speak.

“No.”

Soobin stared at Kai for a long time, confusion clearly evident on his face.

Not sure what Kai was referring to, he said, “...No?”

Deciding to be mute again, Kai remained silent, staring at Soobin with a hard gaze.

Not knowing what Kai wanted from him, he decided he needed to at least rest for a bit and he resumed back to sitting on the chair. However, he found that as he bent down to sit, his butt was met with the hard floor instead of the surface of the wooden chair.

Quite startled from falling on his behind, Soobin looked up and saw that Kai was still staring at him, eyes unwavering.

“...”

Embarrased from falling to the floor, Soobin quickly recovered his usual tranquil expression and stood up. He attempted to sit down on the chair once more, but fell hard on his butt and yelped, not expecting to have missed the chair again.

This time, Soobin figured it was certain that everything was the faerie’s doing.

A little bit frustrated and quite annoyed, Soobin picked himself off the floor once again. “If you wish me not to sit on the chair, then where shall I sit? Would you prefer I lie down next to you, then?”

Kai instantly moved himself all the way to one side of the bed, creating just enough space for another person to slot themselves in, and Soobin’s eyes immediately lit up with amusement at this.

Seeing as the faerie was completely serious, Soobin sighed, seeing that he had no other choice but to comply with the faerie’s wish.

Soobin carefully laid himself next to Kai, trying to keep an appropriate and safe distance between them, but it was simply impossible as Kai’s bed was truly only made for one person to sleep on after all. Thus, Soobin had no choice but to brush his shoulders with Kai’s, making him constantly alert and aware of their close proximity. 

So much was surging through Soobin’s mind. He didn’t know whether he should continue laying on the bed or if he should try to quietly sneak out of the room somehow. He almost considered climbing out the window! Soobin couldn’t imagine the look on his father’s face if he were to ever find out what he was doing right now. Soobin imagined that he’d probably combust right on the spot. The Prince sleeping on the same bed as a faerie? Simply preposterous! 

However, he tried his best to relax and not fidget so much under the sheets. But it hardly mattered because his muscles remained stiff and tense anyways, and his mind switched to overdrive.

With a faerie not in his right mind, Soobin came to realize that in this instant, Kai was completely and utterly vulnerable. So, he stayed.

To fill the suffocating silence, Soobin began making small talks to pass the time. “That wine wasn’t cheap, you know. From what I can tell, you clearly owe me a new bottle of wine.”

“...”

Kai chose not to answer back, but Soobin continued nonetheless.

“If not a bottle of wine, then you must owe me a birthday present to make up for the wine that I haven’t even had a taste of. It only seems fair, don’t you think?”

To Soobin’s surprise, the faerie finally responded, “You’ve already received a birthday present from me.”

Soobin drew his brows together in confusion and racked his brain trying to remember. When he couldn’t recall such memories, he asked, “Have I?”

Kai’s voice was low with seriousness as he insisted, “You have.”

“I don’t recall such things, unfortunately,” Soobin said politely.

When Soobin looked over to Kai, he saw that the faerie’s brows were furrowed together and an expression similar to one of anger and frustration painted his face. Soobin was bemused at Kai’s odd behavior to say the least.

Kai spoke quietly, in a manner that sounded almost like dejection and disappointment, “You do not remember?”

“I’ve no reason to lie.”

Soobin waits for Kai to eventually forget about their conversation and to quickly fall asleep after this, but the youth stays on his spot watching Soobin inquisitively. Soobin doesn’t know what to do with himself, he can’t even move an inch under such attention. It's like he's pinned to the bed with that heavy gaze.

All of a sudden, Kai reached out to grab Soobin’s shirt and when he noticed that Kai was trying to unbotton his shirt, Soobin immediately grasped the front of his shirt and hugged the material close to his body.

“Kai, stop! What do you think you’re doing?”

However, Kai simply ignored him and continued wrestling with Soobin and his shirt.

“Take it off!” Kai ordered the Prince.

By this point, Kai was stradled over Soobin’s lap and within seconds, had the Prince’s hands pinned above his head with one hand while his other hand went to quickly and steadily unbotton the rest of Soobin’s fine silk shirt.

Flustered, Soobin pathetically tried to struggle out of the younger’s hold but strangely could not outmatch Kai’s abnormal strength. Soobin knew that they were almost the same height, but it didn’t make sense for Kai to be this overpoweringly strong against him when his physique was more on the slim side and only having little muscle on his bones.

He finally stopped struggling against the faerie’s hold and looked up to meet mesmerizing bright, green eyes that dazzled like rare gems. Soobin was momentarily taken off guard as he was enthralled and basically spellbind by such unusual eyes. It appeared that Kai was using his powers to pin the Prince underneath him.

Soobin opened his mouth to call for the guards but stopped when he noticed Kai's even more unusual actions.

Kai’s face was twisted in confusion as he opened Soobin’s shirt wider and stared down at smooth, pale skin. He then began patting around all over Soobin’s chest, rubbing his hands shamelessly against his collarbones and up to his neck.

“Kai! What are you doing? This is improper and beyond inappropriate!”

Soobin thought he had seen Kai rolled his eyes, but he was too busy struggling uselessly to get out of the faerie’s strong grip.

After a moment, Soobin heard Kai say in a defeated voice, “It is gone.”

Soobin ceased his struggling movements and stopped to look up at the faerie once more.

“What are you talking about? What is gone?”

“The necklace.”

“What necklace?” 

Kai said nothing further, making Soobin anxious and restless in his grasp. As far as Soobin knew, he’s never worn any necklaces before. Just as Soobin was about to inquire further, Kai suddenly released his hold from Soobin’s wrists and brought his hands up to clutch his head. Seeing that the faerie was suddenly hunched over himself and whimpering in pain, Soobin’s expression changed almost instantly. He immediately sat up once his wrists were free and tried to comfort the younger.

“Kai? What’s wrong?”

Ka’s discomfort seemed to only be getting worse with each second as he continued letting out sounds of utter agony.

Soobin’s eyes scanned across Kai’s face wildly, searching for the source of his pain, but he found nothing. Soobin spoke, voice on the verge of panic and fear, “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

Kai gasped loudly before his body suddenly slumped forward finding Soobin’s body to cushion his fall and the world around him growing dark.

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

_ “Kai?” _

_ Kai opened his eyes and found himself standing in the middle of trees so tall, they practically loomed over him, casting tall shadows on the ground and shielding away most of the sun’s rays. He realized he was in the faerie forest. _

_ “Kai? What’s wrong?” _

_ When Kai heard his name again, he turned around to face the source of the voice. Standing across from him was a boy around the age of ten. Kai could tell that he was around the same age as the boy, for he was shorter when he compared their heights together. _

_ But one thing that he couldn’t help but notice was that when he tried to move or speak, his body did not listen to him. Rather, his mouth moved on their own accord and this was when Kai realized that he was not in control of his own body and was merely just able to see and still have his consciousness to think. _

_ “Mother wishes to see us both,“ Kai heard his own mouth say. Kai watched the boy’s face adorn a look of slight confusion. _

_ “Why? Did we do something wrong? He asked. _

_ Kai felt his own head shake on its own. “No. But no matter what, you cannot go to see mother.” _

_ “Kai, what’s going on?” _

_ “Mother plans to erase our memories of each other,” the voice that came out of him was grim and somber. “And I fear she might do worse. Therefore, you must go.” _

_ “If I shall go, then you must go too,” the other boy said. _

_ “I cannot leave mother behind,” Kai said in a desperate, pleading tone. “This is my home.” _

_ The other boy’s face had an expression of pain and physical distress. But before he could try to convince the faerie further, Kai interrupted. _

_ “Before you go, take this.” Kai reached into his pocket and pulled out a necklace that was made up of grey, translucent crystal beads and cotton strings. The boy made a startled sound when the necklace suddenly transformed into a snake that slithered around Kai’s wrist. _

_ Kai brought his hand up to the boy’s neck and the snake immediately latched itself around his neck and transformed back into crystal beads. Sensing the boy’s unease, Kai said in a reassuring tone, “Don’t be afraid. It won’t hurt you. Because my magic isn’t as strong as mother’s, it can only rattle its tail when it senses danger. However, if you ever need to find me, your wish is its command and this snake will come in search of me.” _

_ Voice filled with gratitude, the boy spoke, “Thank you, Kai.” _

_ “Consider it an early birthday present. I wasn’t going to give it to you until your birthday but I fear we may not see each other for a long time after our departure.” Giving the boy a small push, Kai said with a hint of urgency and desperation, “Now, go! You must leave this instant.” _

_ He turned around and proceeded to walk away but stopped, remembering something. Kai spun back on his heels again and looked straight into the other’s eyes. _

_ “Even if our memories get erased, I will find you,” Kai said, eyes brimming with determination. “As long as the both of us are alive in this world, our path will always cross no matter what.” _

_ The boy stood stunned for a moment. After recovering from his momentary shock at the unexpected declaration, the boy gave a small smile, nodding in agreement. “It can’t be helped, can it?” _

_ “I will find you,” Kai repeated again. “I promise.” _

_ The boy hesitated for a minute before reluctantly turning his back to leave the forest and return back to the kingdom. It was only after the boy was out of sight that Kai then turned in the opposite direction. He then began making his way to Sanctuary. _

_ Sanctuary was the name of his mother’s lair. However, the name contrasted starkly with the appearance of the actual place. Sanctuary was a ruined castle on top of a range of mountains. The sky is generally a pale green in color and the entire area has a dark atmosphere with mists looming over the ground. _

_ It was unfitting naming such a dark and gloomy place, Sanctuary, and it was also exactly why the faerie queen did. _

_Flying all the way to the top of the tallest mountain where the ruined castle remained somehow intact at the top, Kai swept down and immediately found his mother sitting on her throne of stone slabs and intertwined roots._

_ “Darling, didn’t I say to bring your little friend along with you?” _

_ “He is gone.” _

_“Oh?” she said. “This is quite the surprise, you guys are usually attached to each other's hip.”_

_ “Jimin told me what you planned to do,” Kai blatantly ignored her. “I couldn’t let it happen.” _

_ The faerie queen hummed in contemplation, seeming not to be at all surprised by her son’s words. _

_ “Yes, it seems that way.” The faerie queen then stood up from her throne and strided over to Kai in one swift motion, momentarily catching Kai off guard. The faerie queen stared down at Kai with an unreadable look on her face as she spoke, “The human has already been caught.” _

_ Dread immediately took over Kai’s small face. His eyes looked betrayed and at the same time, helpless. Knowing there was nothing else he could do, Kai uselessly exclaimed, “No!” _

_ The faerie queen walked away, nearing the ledge of a wide open space on the wall where a window should be. She stared out, not saying a word for a long time. _

_ Kai could only stare at his mother’s back, inflamed eyes burning holes through her. Kai was furious at himself. He wasn’t strong enough to save his only friend. He wasn’t strong enough to save his mother from drowning in her unquenchable thirst for revenge. He wasn’t strong enough to save the only people he loved and cared about. _

_ The faerie queen suddenly turned around and began making her way towards Kai. With each step she took, Kai stepped back until his back was against the wall. _

_ He thought about running away and escaping, but he knew it would be pointless. His mother is the faerie queen, the most powerful faerie to rule over the faerie forest, and more commonly known as the wicked mistress of evil by the human kingdom. _

_ Towering over her son, the faerie queen stood in front of Kai, unmoving. Suddenly, she pulled Kai into her embrace, taking Kai by surprise. _

_ “Mother?” _

_ Kai could not see her face but he could only imagine the kind of expression that she had on. Regret? Sorrow? Guilt? Despair? _

_ Whatever it was, Kai never got the chance to confirm for himself, for his body fell limply against his mother and darkness took over his vision. _

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

Kai sprung up from his bed and felt the world around him spinning. His head was pounding relentlessly and he felt the sensation of vile trying to crawl its way out of his chest. He moved to get up but was unable to keep his balance on his feet for long and immediately went crashing down to the floor. 

On the floor, Kai rolled around in pain, clutching his head. He forced himself to stop his rolling to place his hands on the floor but felt as if he could not get up as his head was still spinning and throbbing. Eventually, he slowly picked himself up from the floor despite his head feeling like it would split open at any given moment. However, the second Kai was on his feet, his body instantly leaned to one side and he fell down once again, the world still spinning around him uncontrollably.

Kai wanted to yell and scream but all that came out of his mouth were whimpers and shallow breaths. He felt his heart pounding harshly against his ribcage as if it was trying to rip through his chest. The last thing he heard before the world faded away again was the sound of a familiar voice, calling out his name.

**~𝕋 𝕏 𝕋~**

_ “Kai? How do you feel?” _

_ Kai opened his eyes and saw a distraught face jimin staring down at him. Kai sat up slowly, feeling a little lightheaded as his eyes scanned over his surroundings. _

_ “Jimin? What happened? Where’s mother?” _

_ “There’s no time to explain, we must leave now.” _

_ “Why? What’s going on? Leave where?” _

_ “To the human kingdom. Let’s go!” _

_ “What about mother?” _

_ “The queen is busy. We must take our leave now, Kai. Come on!” _

_ “Not without mother!” _

_ Finally having his patience run out, Jimin exploded, “Child, you will do as you are told!” _

_ Grabbing his wrist, Jimin began to run while dragging the stubborn faerie out of the room. _

_ “I want mother!” _

_ Ignoring his pleas and shouts, Jimin tightened his grip around the younger boy’s wrist and moved his feet faster. _

_ After having to practically force the faerie to leave the ruined castle, Kai stopped moving his feet when he saw a small creature gliding across the ground towards him. _

_ “Kai! What are you doing?” _

_ “Wait!” _

_ Kneeling on one leg, Kai extended his hand out and realized that it was a thin, skinny snake about the length of a forearm with grey scales that glistened as it moved. Green orbs with a black slit in the middle of its eyes was attatched to its small diamond head. The snake immediately wrapped itself around Kai’s outstretched hand and slithered across Kai’s arm. _

_Kai stared in awe and at the same time dumbfounded at the snake as it stared back at him with unblinking eyes._

_ “Kai? What’s that?” _

_ Kai drew his brows together, confused, as he said, “I don’t know.” _

_ “Put the snake down and let’s go!” _

_ Kai brought his arm down to let the snake slither off his arm and back to the ground. Instead of retreating back to wherever it came from, the strange, mysterious snake still lingered around Kai’s feet, refusing to go away. _

_ Feeling like he was being stared at, Kai looked up and saw his mother standing inside of the ruined castle, looking down at him. She mouthed to him only two words and Kai knew what it was without having to hear it. It was something his mother said to him more times than he could remember. Something he would never forget. _

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


_ Be good. _

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before I say anything else, I just want to take a moment to explain why it had taken me so long to write this chapter. I have so much planned out for this fic but have been struggling from writer's block. On top of that, there's school. I plan to graduate early so I've been trying to stay on top of my academic work (which is going more or less fine). And on top of that, I've been dealing with some personal issues. I don't want to go too much into the details but I wanted to at least be honest. 
> 
> Also, I'm currently reading heaven official's blessing (tgcf) and it is singlehandedly the most romantic thing I've ever encountered. It is just as good as mdzs (which is to be expected bc it's written from the same author) and I think I prefer tgcf just a little more than mdzs. I literally don't know what else to say, just read it, you won't regret it. (I've also realized that I promote other people's work more than my own but I have absolutely no regrets)
> 
> Thank you for not being annoyed at my usual long notes (you're probably are, I wouldn't put that against you) but most of all, thank you for reading! <333


	16. Author's Note

A/N: Hellooo

I just came by to inform that I’ll sadly be going on a hiatus (hopefully not a long one). There are some issues I’ve been dealing with lately, and I feel like I need to take a step back for a moment.

I also apologize for being unresponsive to comments. I promise, though, that I’ve read every single one of them. Recently, I've been feeling really down (in other words, shitty) and have started the process of practicing social isolation out of habit when I'm in this weird state of wanting to shut myself off from the world bc it's the only way I know how to handle and cope with my problems.

Which is why I normally don't share my twt bc I know im not good at being active, but just in case, my twt is [here](https://twitter.com/sookaigum).  
(istg I just go on random tweeting spurs for one day then go inactive for two months later, but let's be moots anyways)

In the meantime, I hope everyone’s well and safe. Hope to talk soon~

(this a/n will be deleted once I finish writing the next update)

**Author's Note:**

> I'm really excited with this au and this is probably the most I've ever been enthusiastic to write an au! So, I hope I can do this Maleficent themed au justice. I'm currently in the process of finishing two other aus, so the updates may be slow but it mostly varies by which au I feel most like working on at the time :P
> 
> Thank you for reading! <333


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